


The Definition of Normal

by theblackwingedking



Series: The Definition of Normal [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Not really angsty, Witch!Angela, aka how my teenage years went and are going, banshee!Moira, enchanted armor!pharah, half-kumiho!hana i guess, mostly slice of life/fluff, shared custody without romance, teenagers are really bad at comminication
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 28,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27373621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theblackwingedking/pseuds/theblackwingedking
Summary: Angela Ziegler, the Witch of the Wilds, never expected to be raising a half-human, half-demon fox child with a banshee and a walking suit of armor, but life does tend to pull the rug out from under her.In which Angela, Fareeha, and Moira learn to parent and Hana learns to deal with the ups and downs of high school.
Relationships: Fareeha "Pharah" Amari & Moira O'Deorain, Fareeha "Pharah" Amari/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, Lúcio Correia dos Santos/Hana "D.Va" Song, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Moira O'Deorain & Angela "Mercy" Ziegler
Series: The Definition of Normal [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058255
Comments: 39
Kudos: 53





	1. how to adopt a child

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!  
> So I'm just getting back into writing after quite a few years, and I'm a but rusty :/ Things should smooth out soon though. This is a concept I came up with and refined with some friends on Discord - huge thanks to yall for helping hehe.

It was unusually cold in the Black Forest near Eichenwalde, even for mid-December. Recent snowfall had left the evergreens coated with white, glistening in the morning sun, although there were some bare patches on the ground where the trees were especially close together. In one such area, Jin-Ae Song rested against the trunk of a nearby tree, with nothing on her person save for a small bundle wrapped in a tattered blanket. Her eyes were closed, head leaning back against the trunk as if she were asleep. If it were not for the current circumstances, one could say she looked almost peaceful. 

How long had it been since she had last eaten? She had been traveling across Asia and Europe for months, spurred on by nothing but what she held in her arms. Wearily, with shaky hands, she undid part of the blanket wrap. The sudden cold provoked a cry from within, and as more of the blanket was pulled back Jin-Ae cast a glance over the infant, smiling slightly when she saw brown eyes staring back at her, framed by a chubby face complete with rosy cheeks. She let out a sound of relief. 

“Of course you’re okay, I guess your father’s… heritage was good for something.” She replaced the blanket, shielding the infant from the cold again. “If we’re where I think we are… You should be safe soon.” She closed her eyes again, held her child close to her, and returned to resting against the tree. Despite the cold and uncomfort, exhaustion quickly took its toll, and sleep overcame her. 

Several hours later, it was only slightly warmer. The woods were silent save for the occasional chirp from the few birds that had not gone into hibernation. A suit of armor, the vessel of Fareeha Amari, trudged soundlessly through the snow, despite the seemingly heavy plates of metal that made up the suit. Bright blue-green light leaked through gaps in the armor, revealing the lack of a physical body inside.

Fareeha stopped in her tracks, the prone figure of a woman having caught her eye. Jogging over, she rested a cold hand on the woman’s shoulder, gently shaking her awake. She slowly opened her eyes, and the armored figure’s helmet filled her field of view. 

Despite having no visible face, Jin-Ae swore she could have seen concern in the figure’s expression. She smiled weakly.

“You’re Amari, the Witch’s Guardian, aren’t you?” 

Fareeha was shocked. There were very few people, if they could be called that, alive who knew of her presence, much less who knew her actual name. Despite her initial surprise, she nodded twice, then pointed to the woman’s chest, tilting her head in a silent question. 

“Jin… Jin-Ae Song. I was told the Witch could… help me. Or rather…” She opened the blanket, revealing an infant sleeping inside. “Help her.”

Fareeha sat in contemplation for a few moments. Jin-Ae was already very weak, and Fareeha doubted she would be able to make the trek back to the Witch’s dwelling. There was, however, one place she could go, where the woman would be able to rest before continuing on. While that was the last place Fareeha wanted to go, it was necessary in order to save the child, and hopefully the woman. She nodded again to Jin-Ae and scooped her up in her arms along with the baby.

Fareeha arrived at her destination, a small cabin in a state of disrepair. With no free hands to knock on the door, she drew her foot back and delivered a heavy kick to the door, in hopes that the sound would stir the cabin’s occupant. Her assumptions were correct, as the door soon opened, revealing a pale-skinned woman with long white hair. A banshee.

“What a pleasant surprise, my first visitor in fifty years and it’s Angela’s guard dog.” She glanced at the woman in Fareeha’s arms. “My, she’s nearly dead.”

Fareeha placed a metal boot inside the threshold of the cabin, with a clear message. 

The banshee stepped aside, closing the door behind Fareeha. “Very well, as you wish.” She paused as Fareeha set the woman and her baby down by the fireplace and began looking for something to light a fire with. “So, what brings you here, Amari?” she asked once the Guardian had found a lighter and kindle.

When Fareeha was satisfied with the blaze, she stood, hands and fingers moving deftly as she relayed the events of the morning to the banshee in sign language.  _ I hate to say this, but I need your help, Moira. _ She nodded toward the woman by the fire.  _ Help me get her to Angela. _

The banshee, Moira, smirked. “I never thought I’d live to see the day when the high and mighty Fareeha Amari would be asking me for help.” Ignoring Fareeha’s rude gesture in response, she looked over at the woman again. “I fear it is too late for her. The cold has taken its toll, and she will die soon. The child, however… There is hope for the child, yes.” She knelt to examine the baby. “Despite everything, she is, surprisingly, faring much better than her mother.” 

A hand grabbed Moira’s wrist with surprising force as Jin-Ae struggled to speak. “...Hana. Her name… Hana.” She paused to catch her breath, and continued. “Her father… Yeon.” 

Moira and Fareeha looked at each other, exchanging glances. “The fox-face?” Moira stared incredulously at the woman, who nodded weakly. “I’m not surprised he didn’t stick around to care for you two.”

“He said… the Witch could help.” Jin-Ae’s voice was fading. “As long as my Hana is safe… I will be content.”

Fareeha grasped Jin-Ae’s hands in her own, then began signing something, Moira translating.  _ We will keep her safe, I promise. _

By evening, Fareeha and Moira had arrived at Angela’s house, near the edge of the Black Forest, the closest to civilization Moira had been in centuries. Angela Ziegler, the Witch of the Wilds, opened the door before Fareeha had a chance to knock, obviously having been waiting for her to return. Fareeha was content to ditch Moira by the door, and Angela would have been as well if it were not for the child Moira held in her arms. Moira was let in as a result, and Angela kept a wary eye on her as Fareeha caught her up to speed. 

“This is Yeon’s daughter?” Angela took the sleeping Hana from Moira’s arms and gently stroked her hair. “He doesn’t strike me as the type to settle down and have a family.”

_ He’s not _ , Fareeha signed.  _ Based on what we know, he abandoned her and her mother and told them to find you. Or something like that. _

Angela hummed her acknowledgement. “What of the mother?”

Moira spoke up. “We buried her close to my cabin. She wouldn’t have made it here regardless.” 

Angela spent the next few moments deep in thought. “Alright, here’s what’s going to happen. I will raise the child. However, I cannot provide for her needs alone, and Fareeha is, well, Fareeha.”

“And that means…?” Moira raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure I like where this is going, Angela.” Fareeha nodded.  _ For once, I agree with the old hag.  _

Angela silenced Moira’s retort by holding up a hand. “Moira, as insufferable as you can be, you are… tolerable for the most part. Besides, aside from Fareeha you’re the only person in this area I am familiar with, unfortunately. You will help raise the child.” 

“But-”

“No buts. Go back to your cabin, collect whatever belongings you need, and bring them here. There is no way we’re staying in that old decrepit place of yours.”

To Angela’s surprise, Moira didn’t complain much more. With a grumble, she faded away, presumably to collect her things. Fareeha watched the wisps left by Moira's fade dissipate, then turned to Angela.  _ Are you sure this is a good idea? _

“No. But it is necessary, and I can’t just leave this child to suffer by herself. It’s not as if we have anything else to do. As I said before, you and I alone cannot provide for a child. Moira, even with all her shortcomings, will probably be able to fill any gaps in our parenting.” Angela stopped as Hana began to cry. “Oh dear, she appears to have soiled herself. Lend me a hand, will you, Fareeha?”

The Guardian begrudgingly followed Angela into the bathroom, signing to no one in particular.  _ This is a horrible idea. _


	2. how to raise a demon fox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby half-demon fox antics.

As it turned out, raising Hana was quite the difficulty, even with Moira’s (reluctant) assistance. Angela, being the most normal-looking out of the trio without the constant need of a human disguise, had gone into town and bought books and pamphlets on how to raise a child, but unfortunately, said books did not go into any detail about  _ Kumiho _ children. Thus, the first few months were composed of trial and error, the majority of which being the latter, but slowly and surely the three settled into a routine. 

Because Hana consumed much more than the average human child, baby formula began to take up the majority of their spending money. Two years into their arrangement, Angela opened a clinic in the suburban area of the city, which gave them a steady source of income to properly care for Hana. She had begun teething much earlier than Angela’s books had predicted, however, neither of the three women raising her were surprised. 

Fareeha had quickly taken to the child, and, being unable to sleep, she took it upon herself to watch over Hana every night. After Angela opened the clinic, Fareeha spent the most time with Hana, always keeping the child within eyesight. Hana, in turn, grew attached to Fareeha as well, and grew to recognize her whenever she walked into the room. The Guardian was also the one most capable of calming Hana after one of her crying fits, despite, as Moira put it, “Fareeha’s cold, hard, and dead hunk of a body.” Angela would be lying if she said she wasn’t even the least but jealous, given that Fareeha had gradually been spending more time with Hana and less time with her. 

Moira, as well, began to warm up to Angela and Fareeha. Despite her initial reservations, she gradually began to integrate herself more into their strange household, and found that Angela’s, and even Fareeha’s, company was tolerable, even enjoyable at times. As reluctant as Moira was to admit it, Angela and Fareeha were welcome company that she actually  _ liked _ being around, despite the slight awkwardness from their previous centuries of tentative coexistence. She, along with the other two, lapsed into a comfortable routine of waking up, caring for Hana, eating takeout Angela brought back on her way home from the clinic, bickering over the ethicality of Moira’s experiments, and turning in for the night, only to start the cycle again the next day, the day after that, and so on.

The second wave of problems came when Hana was around three years old. By then, all her teeth had grown in, and her father’s instincts were beginning to show themselves. She developed a habit of biting and chewing on anything and everything, much to Angela’s dismay. Moira had shown up at the clinic around noon one day, one hand showing quite a few puncture marks and exhaustion evident on her face. She told Angela it was “a particularly bad day, considering I’ve already had to fix three holes in the sofa and replace one of my bedposts.” After that incident, Fareeha was delegated to be Hana’s primary caretaker once more, seeing as she was the only one immune to Hana’s attacks. She gradually learned to control these impulses as she grew, which allowed her caretakers to relax slightly, knowing that the furniture was no longer in immediate danger. 

After Hana’s fifth birthday, Moira and Fareeha began teaching her sign language while Angela was at the clinic. The witch came home to Hana gesturing wildly, trying to imitate the speed at which Fareeha signed. She picked up basic words and could hold a short conversation after a few months, much to Fareeha’s delight. Moira also taught Hana a few choice words, which amused Fareeha but irritated Angela to no end.    
“Moira, when I said you were helping raise this child, I did not say you could teach her to run around the house saying ‘dipshit’ in sign language every three minutes.”

“I can tell her to say something else instead, if you’d like.”

Hana chose that moment to pop up from behind the sofa. “Moira taught me a lot of words! I just like that one the most!”

“Oh?” Angela raised an eyebrow and looked between Moira and Hana. “And do you know what those words mean?”   
“Nope!” Hana giggled and ran off, most likely to find Fareeha and play a game with her. Angela gave the banshee a disapproving look. “We’re enrolling her in school soon, Moira. Please, for the sake of my sanity.” 

Moira merely shrugged.

After enrolling Hana in school, the house was much quieter. With Angela at the clinic, Moira and Fareeha had the entire house to themselves. The two spent some time turning Angela’s basement, which Moira had been living in, into a more suitable long-term residence.  _ It’s to keep her out of my sight while she watches those Japanese cartoons and puts wings on rats or whatever it is that she does _ , Fareeha had explained to Angela when Moira had left to pick Hana up from school. Angela gave her a look of skepticism, but their conversation was put on hold when a sobbing Hana walked through the door, followed by Moira. Fareeha tensed up and began to walk threateningly towards Moira, thinking the banshee had done something to upset Hana. 

“It wasn’t me this time, I promise,” Moira began, holding her hands up. “She was already upset when I got to school, and she won’t tell me what happened.” 

Angela sighed and put a gentle hand on Fareeha’s metal arm, stopping her in her tracks. “I can hazard a guess as to what it is. We’ll talk to her after she’s calmed down.”

Dinner was a quiet affair, and Hana stayed in her room for the remainder of the evening, not coming down despite Angela’s calling. Eventually, Fareeha got up from her seat (despite not being able to eat, she still sat with Angela at dinner) and motioned toward Hana’s room.  _ I’m going to talk to her. _ Angela nodded. “Go ahead, we’ll be finished soon.” 

Hana had been moping around her room for a while, playing on an old-school handheld game console she had received for her fifth birthday, when she heard a soft knock on her door. She hesitantly opened it to see Fareeha, holding a plate of what she assumed was dinner. “H-hey, Ree. Thanks.” She accepted the plate from Fareeha, who nodded.  _ Can I come in? _

Hana opened the door all the way to let Fareeha in, and sat on the edge of her bed to eat. The Guardian sat on the floor across from Hana, waiting in silence before Hana felt comfortable enough to talk. After a few minutes, Hana set the plate aside and folded her knees up to her chest. “Ree?” Fareeha looked up and waited expectantly. 

“I-I was at school today and we had to introduce ourselves and I told them that my name is Hana and I have three moms but none of them are my actual mom cause my actual mom is dead and- and one of them is a witch and the other one is her girlfriend who’s a possessed suit of armor and-”

Fareeha held up a finger.  _ Slow down, Hana. So you told them about us? _

“Y-yeah. And they all looked at me funny like this.” She scrunched up her face and raised one eyebrow in her imitation of what Fareeha assumed to be her classmates’ expression of disbelief. “And then- and then they told me at recess that I was crazy and witches don’t exist.” Her face fell even more than it had before. “They laughed at me and said I was making things up and that I shouldn’t lie to people like that.” She began to cry again.

Fareeha moved closer to Hana and pulled her into a hug, letting the girl cry into her shoulder for a bit. After it seemed the worst of the waterworks was over, she pulled back to look Hana in the eyes (or as much as one who consists of nothing but a suit of armor can).  _ Hana, that was something Angela, Moira, and I forgot to tell you. We aren’t exactly a normal family. None of your classmates have three moms, and I can say for certain that none of their parents are even remotely like me. I know this is a lot to understand, but our existence is a closely kept secret nowadays, and there are very few people who even know we exist. If this was made public, they’d most likely take us away because we disrupt the natural order of things. This is a lot to ask of you, but for now, the best thing you can do is pretend that you have the same kind of family that everyone else does. If you do that, then- _

“But why?” Hana looked up at Fareeha with sad eyes, and if she looked closely she could see a hint of anger in them. “It doesn’t seem fair that you have to hide from the world when everyone else can just run around and dance and laugh and all that.”   
_ I know, but that’s just the way things are. If Angela and I want to be happy, it’s necessary that we stay hidden from the rest of the world.  _

Hana sighed, taking a moment to contemplate what she had just been told. The two sat in silence for another few minutes, Fareeha gently running her fingers through Hana’s hair.

“Ree, I don’t want you to have to live like that forever.” She slid off Fareeha’s lap and sat across from her, resolve flashing in her brown eyes. “When- when I grow up, I’m gonna make a place where no one has to feel left out, y’know? I’m gonna make sure you and Angie and Moira can be who you wanna be and no one can tell you otherwise, okay? But until then…” Hana took a moment to think. “Until then, I guess you’ll have to stay here. But don’t worry! I’m gonna do it someday! I’ma make a new kind o’ normal that includes everyone, even you.” She grinned. “What about that?”

“As touching as that is,” a voice came from behind her, “you’ll have to finish your schoolwork first.” Moira was leaning against the doorway, Angela by her side. She smiled a bit. “I’d like that though, I really would.”


	3. how to greet centuries-old family friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pair of unexpected, but not exactly unwelcome, guests.

The door to the clinic opened with a jingle and Angela looked up from filling out the mountain of paperwork on her desk. “Hello, can I help y-” She cut off as she saw the visitor’s face. “What are you doing here, Olivia?”

Olivia, better known as Sombra, walked up to Angela’s desk, her feet making no sound as she moved. “Aye, _chica_. It’s been a while.” 

“So it has. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have papers to fill out and patients to attend to-”  
“I’m not just here for a social call, Angie. I- uh, can we talk somewhere more private?”

Angela raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless granted Sombra’s request, opening the door to her office and letting the woman in. Once Sombra had chosen a seat, Angela sat across from her. “So. What could possibly be so urgent that you would travel all the way here to seek me out?”

“Well, for starters, I heard you’ve adopted a daughter.”  
“This is starting to look more and more like nothing but a friendly chat. Get to the point.”   
“You really are no fun, huh?” Sombra smiled a bit. “But in all seriousness, I’ve heard she’s… not exactly human.”   
“Your point?”

“It’s been a while since a Mythical was born. I’d like to see her. And so would Amélie,” she added as an afterthought. “Angie, your kind are dying out. It’s important that the rest of them are aware of her existence because-”  
“Yes, yes, I’m well aware. We can’t die out, yeah.” Angela stood and walked over to a nearby coffee machine. “Coffee?”

“Uh, sure.”

Angela continued. “I’m not going to cart Hana around the world like some zoo animal on display. She deserves to have a somewhat-normal life, given that her Mythical traits aren’t visible unless someone looks very closely. You and Amélie can come back with me if you’d like and meet her, but she’s only ten, and still very very shy.” She handed Sombra a cup of coffee, along with a couple packets of sugar and milk. “I’ll let her decide if she wants to meet everyone, but only after she’s had a chance at childhood.”

Sombra nodded. “Yeah, I understand. Amé and I will stop by later tonight, alright?”

Angela nodded. Excusing Sombra from her office, she walked back to her desk and grabbed her phone, dialing a number. 

The phone at the Zeigler household rang, loudly and intrusively, waking Moira from a midday nap on the couch. Grumbling, she dragged herself off the couch and into the kitchen, picking up the phone on the fifth ring. “Hello?”

Angela’s voice came through on the other end. “Moira. Olivia and Amélie are coming over tonight.”

“What? Why?”  
“To meet Hana, obviously. Somehow word of her existence reached the other Mythicals, so now they’re here. It’s just those two though, and no one else.” 

Moira sighed. “Aren’t you the one who wanted her to live a life _away_ from the Mythicals?”   
“Yes, but in this case, I don’t think it can be helped. Olivia is… persistent.”   
“I see. I’ll tell Fareeha to arrange to have guests over tonight. I’ve got to go pick Hana up soon.”   
“ _Ja._ That would be great, thank you.”

Moira hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. “Of course that woman would stick her nose in our business…”

A couple hours later, Angela’s car pulled into the garage, and Angela walked into the house, followed by Olivia and another woman with pale skin and golden eyes. “Ah, Fareeha!” Olivia sauntered into the living room upon catching sight of Fareeha’s distinctive blue-green glow. “How have you been, _amiga_? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” She wrapped an arm around Fareeha’s armored shoulders, a gesture of what Fareeha guessed was affection. 

Fareeha looked at Angela with the most irritated expression she could muster. _It hasn’t been long enough, if you ask me._

Angela laughed. “Please, _Liebling,_ try to have some manners. Amélie, Olivia, feel free to make yourselves at home.” She looked toward the upstairs, where Hana sat in her room. “Hana should be coming down shortly.” 

As if on cue, the door opened and Hana skipped out, giggling, followed by Moira. As soon as she saw the two strangers seated in the living room, however, she quieted down, quickly darting down the stairs and hiding behind Fareeha. Peeking out, she narrowed her eyes at Sombra and Amélie. “Who’re you and why are you in my house?”

Stifling a snort of laughter, Angela gently coaxed Hana out from behind Fareeha. “Hana, these are two… friends of mine who will be staying with us for a couple days. This is Olivia, although she might want you to call her Sombra, and this-” Angela gestured to the other woman, “-is Amélie.”

Olivia grinned and waved enthusiastically. Amélie offered nothing but an almost imperceptible nod of her head. Hana slowly approached them, going to Olivia first, and held her hand out. “I’m Hana.” After shaking Olivia’s hand, she repeated the same with Amélie, but pulled back in surprise when her skin made contact. “Y-your hand- it’s cold! Like Fareeha’s hand after she stands outside for the entire night!” She paused to think a bit. “But- but Ree is dead so there’s no heart to warm her up, is what Angie told me. Are you dead too? Am- Ami-”

“Amélie,” the pale-skinned woman spoke in heavily accented English, “and as for whether or not I am dead, some would say yes, I am, and some would argue no, I am not.”

Hana squinted at Amélie in obvious confusion. “But how-”

“Hana, dear, Amélie is a vampire.” Moira spoke up from where she sat on the couch opposite Sombra. The woman in question shot Moira a hostile glance, but nodded to Hana to confirm the banshee’s statement. The girl’s eyes widened.

“Wait, so do you actually drink blood? Can you turn into a bat? Do you live by yourself in this huuuuge castle and lure in un- uns- unsuspecting travelers? Do you impale people on sticks outside your house? Are you allergic to garlic?”

Amélie smiled a bit for the first time since she had entered the house. “Aside from the blood-drinking, those are all stereotypes, child. Although…” she trailed off and glanced at Sombra, who had vacated the sofa and was trying to snatch the helmet off Fareeha’s armor, “I did live by myself in a ‘huuuuge castle’ until I met that idiot over there.”

“Is Sombra a vampire too, then?”

“I wish I was, but no,” Sombra stopped harassing Fareeha and walked over to sit on Amélie’s lap, wrapping her arms around the taller woman. “A long, long time ago, I was a hunter. Amélie here was my target, and the only one I’ve ever failed to kill. And I’d like to think I’m lucky to have her on my side now.” She leaned in close to Amélie, and (much to Sombra’s surprise, considering Amélie’s aversion to public affection), Amélie’s lips met hers in a tender kiss. 

“Eww! PDA! PDA!” Hana laughed and covered her eyes in mock disgust. Amélie smirked and pulled Sombra in for another sloppier, rougher, more aggressive kiss, her hands wandering up and down her lover’s sides as if searching for purchase. Fareeha’s posture slumped slightly, expressing her annoyance with the two women about to make a mess of Angela’s couch. Metal boots clanked against the ground as Fareeha grabbed Sombra, lifting her up off Amélie and dropping her on the floor. _If you two could NOT make a mess on the couch in your first half hour here, and in front of a child no less, that would be great._

 _“Amiga_ , I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sombra grinned innocently and Amélie returned to her previous composure, sitting up straight on the couch once more. Angela cleared her throat.   
“ _Ahem._ As riveting as this conversation is, there is dinner waiting, courtesy of Moira. Amé, I’m sorry we didn’t prepare anything for you.”   
“It is of no concern. I will take my meal later tonight, in private with… a single companion.” Amélie looked knowingly at Sombra.

Dinner passed by quickly, with another barrage of questions from Hana about Amélie and Sombra’s lives, which the latter was more than happy to answer, with plenty of reminders from Angela to “stop talking with your mouth full, Hana, it’s very unladylike.” Amélie sat next to Sombra, nursing a glass of wine, watching the shorter woman speak animatedly with Hana. A small smile gradually crept to her lips as Sombra laughed at Hana’s jokes and told some of her own, ones that were so incredibly terrible that Amélie found at least a bit amusing. Moira, from the head of the table, gently nudged the vampire. 

“I’m glad you’ve finally found someone who makes you feel happy again. How long has it been since Gérard?” 

Amélie swiveled in her chair to face Moira, her expression having gone back to neutral. “A trick of the light, I’m sure.”

Moira raised her eyebrows but said nothing more on the subject. 

Leaving a disgruntled Fareeha to do the dishes, Hana dragged Sombra and Amélie up to her room, giving them her “grand tour” consisting of the unmade bed, the closet and dresser full of unfolded clothes, and the desk, decorated with stickers. A book on said desk caught Sombra’s eye. 

“Is Angie teaching you magic, Hana?”  
“Yeah! I mean, only a little. I can only move this rock from one side of the room to the other.” Hana held up a small black pebble, whispered an incantation, and slowly but surely, it floated across Hana’s bedroom, from her hand to the opposite wall. “See?”

Sombra smiled. “That’s more than what most kids you age learn, _chica._ Soooo…” She sat down on Hana’s bed next to her, “What are we doing here?”

“Oh. I wanted to ask you about some things because Angie says you always have whatever information we want.”  
Sombra chuckled. “That I do. What’s up?”

Hana thought for a moment. “Can I meet anyone else like us?”

Amélie laughed darkly, making herself comfortable slotted up against Sombra. “Trust me, there are some that it’d do you good to stay away from.”

“Oh hush, Amé, I won’t introduce her to anyone Angie and Ree aren’t friendly with. Relax.” Sombra pulled her phone out and began to swipe through pictures. The first one she showed Hana was of a woman with brown skin that faded into orange scales in some places. Horns came out of her skull and wrapped around the back of her head. She was smiling in the photo, and was making something out of what Hana thought was thin air. “Satya Vaswani, the Dragon. She’s one of my oldest friends, actually, she’s the one who made it so that I could live with Amé for as long as I have.” She smiled at Amélie again, then pulled up another photo.

By the time Angela came to tuck Hana in, Sombra had introduced her to many of their fellow Mythicals, those who lived life away from the prying human eye. Through pictures and videos, she told Hana about the oni brothers, Genji and Hanzo, the former of whom was traveling with the mysterious monk, Zenyatta. Hana learned about the fish-man, Akande Ogundimu, residing in the swamps near Lake Victoria in Kenya, and the werewolf McCree, who, according to Amélie, “somehow looks and dresses less ridiculous as a wolf than as a man.” Unfortunately, Sombra’s tales came to an end as Angela ushered them out of Hana’s room. 

“Hey Angie? Y’know all those people Olivia and Amé were telling me about? Can I meet them sometime?”

Angela sighed. “Maybe when you’re older. You’ve still got a whole life ahead of you, Hana.” She planted a gentle kiss on the girl’s forehead, earning a giggle in return. “Get some rest, _Schatzi._ Remember, you’ve got school tomorrow.” Leaving Hana in her bed, she left the room, flicking off the light switch by the door as she exited. 

Fareeha stood in the hallway outside Hana’s room, arms crossed, waiting for Angela. _Amélie and Olivia, huh, It’s been a while since we saw them. One hundred years?_   
_Ninety-six, to be exact,_ Angela replied in sign. _And if I’m being honest, I don’t particularly dislike their company. I enjoy yours much more, however._ She wrapped her arms around Fareeha’s metal chassis, and grinned as she was picked up and carried, bridal-style, to their room.   
Fareeha set Angela down and inclined her helmet in what Angela could only assume was a smile. _I’m glad they have each other, and I’m even more glad I have you._ She took Angela’s hand and pressed her helmet against it, prompting a soft giggle from Angela.

_You hopeless romantic._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, there are swamps in Africa. It's not all savannah, ya know.
> 
> also yes hana will meet lucio soon im getting to that but i'm v lazy :/


	4. how to deal with demon fox puberty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angela is a good teacher, apparently

Hana’s high-pitched, earsplitting screech filled the house as the sun began to shine its first rays over the horizon. Being the only other one awake at the time, Fareeha reached Hana first, cautiously opening the bathroom door only to find the girl stark naked in the tub, twisting around with a horrified expression on her face. “F-Fareeha, what- what- why is there hair coming out of my backside?”

Before Fareeha could answer, Moira arrived, still rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Hana, it’s five thirty on a Saturday morning. What could possibly be so urgent that-” She stopped when she saw Hana. “Oh, dear. You seem to be in quite the state of undress.”

“That’s the least of my problems right now!” Hana stood and frantically ran over to the two. “Can one of you explain to me why the ever-loving FU-- ungus I have HAIR growing out of my rear end? And why is it white? And why is this hair white too?” She gestured to the hair on her head.

“Well,” Moira began, “You see, it’s quite rare for a human to have a child with a Mythical, so Angela and I didn’t know what traits you would inherit from your father, and we really did hope this wouldn’t be one of them, but-”  
Fareeha put a hand up to silence the other woman. _What Moira means to say is, well, your tails are growing in._

“...my what!?”

One hour later, after Angela had finished her first mug of coffee, the four of them gathered in the living room to discuss Hana’s predicament. Fortunately, Angela had prepared for this scenario, and already had a plan on how to deal with it.   
“What you saw this morning was one of your nine tails. They’ll gradually come in as you age, although I don’t know exactly _when_ they will, given that you’re not 100% _Kumiho_. They symbolize your strength and control over your abilities and whatnot, although in this day and age there is rarely any conflict in the Mythical world, so now they’re basically just an indicator of age.” The Witch paused to take a swig of coffee, then continued. “However, like all other Mythicals, you have the ability to adopt a human disguise. Now that your, ah, non-human features are beginning to show themselves, we will be teaching you how to control the shift between your human and Mythical forms. Got that so far?”

Hana nodded. “So, my tails won’t be a problem?”

“Yes. I expect it won’t take you too long to master it, so it shouldn’t interfere with your going to school and whatnot.”

The girl pouted slightly. “And here I thought at least I wouldn’t have to go to school for a couple days.”

* * *

Angela stood across from Hana in a clearing in the woods, the faint shimmer of magic surrounding her. “Alright. Shifting is usually the extent of the magic most Mythicals can perform, but seeing as you already have prior experience with magic, this should be fairly easy for you.” She motioned for Hana to sit down. “Remember when I first taught you magic and how you pull it out from inside yourself? The shift is the same concept. 

“There are two sides to this particular type of magic, your human side and your Mythical side. You’re actually more in tune with your human side because of your half-blood heritage, so controlling the shift into your human form from your Mythical form will be much easier than vice versa. Imagine both aspects of your body in a bag. Reach inside that bag, and pull out the form you wish to take.”

Hana closed her eyes, trying to envision what Angela had described to her, but to no avail. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and huffed in frustration. “I don’t see it.”

Angela sat next to Hana and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “That is because you’re looking for something that isn’t there. You have to manifest the two sides yourself. Calm down. I’d say ‘clear your mind,’ but that really sounds like something the monk would say.” She smiled. “Try again, _Schatzi_.” 

Closing her eyes once again, Hana slowed her breathing to deep, controlled breaths. She reached out into the empty space before her and envisioned her human form, complete with no tails and her normal brown hair. _Create it yourself,_ Angela had said. Reaching even farther with her magic, Hana slowly saw the figure in her mind’s eye take shape, and she pulled it close to her. 

Standing off to the side, Moira smiled as Hana’s hair slowly reverted to its familiar shade of brown. The girl was wearing shorts now, but she assumed Hana’s tail was receding as well. She opened her eyes, tilting them upwards to look at her bangs. “Hey, I did it, Angie!” She laughed and gave the witch an enthusiastic hug. Upon Hana’s release of the magic, however, her hair turned white again and Hana squirmed as her tail came back. 

Angela patted the crestfallen girl on the back. “You’ll get the hang of it, Hana. I doubt it will take you long to hold your shift for as long as you wish.”

Hana brightened at Angela’s reassuring words. “D’you really think so?”  
“Yes, Hana, I do.”

As predicted by Angela, Hana was able to establish reliable control over her human disguise and true Mythical form. As noted by Moira, however, she had not developed complete control over the shift, as she was prone to sudden and spontaneous transformation when agitated. Until she had it under control, Angela gave Hana a charm to take to school which could help regulate her shift and keep her in one form. 

As the months passed, Hana’s growth spurt began to wane, and along with the arrival of her thirteenth birthday came a second tail, the last one Angela predicted she would be getting while still in secondary school. She mastered her shift shortly afterwards, and that following summer consisted of Moira taking Hana out into the forest almost daily to learn to control the rest of her quickly developing powers. 

While Moira and Angela were busy training Hana, Fareeha flew high up, into cloud cover, in the dead of night, travelling south toward Gibraltar. Landing on top of a building at the very end of the peninsula, she dropped off the side and hovered in front of a window on the top floor. She knocked lightly on the glass, and a tall, weary-eyed man dressed in all black opened the window to let her in. 

It was dark in the room, the only illumination coming from the light spilling out of the gaps in Fareeha’s body and a small lamp on a desk at the far end of the room. The man motioned to a seat across from the desk, more of a courtesy than anything, as Fareeha really had no need to sit. She sat nonetheless as the man walked around to the other side and seated himself in the leather desk chair across from Fareeha. He reached over and flicked on a brighter lamp, illuminating the both of them in soft yellow light. 

She could see him more clearly now, the neatly trimmed beard of dark brown hair framing a dark-skinned face. Set into deep sockets were red-pupiled eyes on a background of jet-black sclera. Jagged scars criss-crossed his face, marking his skin with the remnants of battle. Under different circumstances, the man would have looked almost monstrous. Tonight, however, they were meeting as friends, a fact made clear when the man smiled and reached a hand across the desk to rest on Fareeha’s metal shoulder in a gesture of greetings. “Fareeha. It is good to see you again.”

Fareeha nodded. _Hello to you as well, Gabriel._ As per the man’s request, over the next hour she caught him up to speed on the events of the past few years, including Hana’s appearance in their life. Gabriel smiled softly as Fareeha enthusiastically told him about the girl, about everything from her training with Angela to her dreams and aspirations for when she grew up. 

“She’ll be entering her fourth year soon, hm?” 

Fareeha nodded. _Angela would like her to transfer here._

“That shouldn’t be too hard to do. Have her e-mail me the paperwork or something, I should be able to get it back to you before the end of summer.” He leaned back in his chair, looking at the clock on the wall. “Time flies when you’re catching up, doesn’t it? You’d best be heading out in case people see you in daylight.”

 _Thanks, Gabe._ Fareeha stood. _I’ll have Angela send it over as soon as possible._ She walked back to the still-open window. _It is a bit late- I guess we got carried away._ She shrugged. _Angela might be a bit upset with me, but it is what it is._

“I know what you mean. Angela has her needs too, eh?” He winked at Fareeha, who would have blushed madly if not for the fact that she was physically incapable of doing so. She instead flipped him the bird and, with a certain grace in spite of her bulky-looking armor, leapt out of the window and began the flight back to Eichenwalde. 

Gabriel closed the window, returned to his desk, and scratched his beard, deep in thought. “That _goddamn_ fox, Yeon… Never expected him to get involved with anyone, much less one of those humans he considers to be so... _beneath_ him.” He smiled. “I guess life does do that to a person sometimes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> at least she hasn't gotten her monthly schtick yet.


	5. how to adjust to boarding school life

Hana’s alarm rang, loud and shrill, cutting through the peaceful silence in the Ziegler household. Hana, bundled up in layers of blankets despite the warm summer morning, reached one hand out to turn it off, instead knocking the clock off her desk, prompting another round of incessant beeping. Grumbling, she untangled herself and rolled out of bed, picked up the offending device, and turned the alarm off. After tidying up, she dragged herself downstairs, where Angela and Fareeha sat, the former having woken up long ago. “Hey, Angie. Hey, Ree.”

Fareeha waved in reply as Angela stood, pouring a glass of water as Hana reached into the cupboard for a bottle of Mountain Dew. “Hana, please. Not this early.” 

“But-”   
“No buts. Eat something substantial first.” Picking up the pan of scrambled eggs on the stove, she scooped half into Hana’s plate and, along with a piece of toast and the glass of water, placed it in front of the girl as she sat down. As Hana scarfed down her food, Angela returned to her seat next to Fareeha. “So, Hana. You’ll be entering your fourth year after summer. How would you feel about transferring schools?”

“Transferring? Like, going to a different secondary school?”   
“Yes. Watchpoint Academy. It’s a boarding school in Gibraltar run by a friend of mine. We think it would be beneficial to your education.”

Fareeha chimed in.  _ Angela and Moira think you’ve learnt enough control over your shift, so keeping it up for long periods of time shouldn’t be a problem.  _

“...I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

_ We’d like you to at least try it out for a year. After that, we’ll let you decide. _

“But what about my friends? Like Yuna, Dae-Hyun, King?”

“You have a cell phone,” Angela chimed in. It’s not as if you’re going to be outside of the EU.” 

“Well….” Hana sighed. “I guess I should just make the best of it.”

Fareeha clapped Hana on the back, startling her.  _ I’m proud of you, habibti. We’ll be leaving in a month, okay? _

“Okay!” 

Hana’s last month of summer went by in a flash. She trained with Angela in the mornings and spent her afternoons out with her friends, watching movies, playing arcade games, and, as always, getting overly competitive when it came to Smash Bros. One hazy Friday afternoon, while inspecting her haul from the arcade’s ticket shop, the group addressed the elephant that had been sitting in the room ever since Hana had broken the news to her friends.

“So,” Yuna began, sorting the many pieces of candy she’d bought, “You’re leaving tonight.” It wasn’t a question. 

“Yeah,” Hana replied. “I’m gonna miss you guys, you know that?”

“Of course we do! You’re Hana Song, absolutely irreplaceable!” Dae-hyun laughed from where he was lounging on the couch. “...we’ll miss you too,” he added, more quietly than before. 

Hana could feel tears coming to her eyes. “I’ll call! I promise!” She smiled, but her sadness was evident to her friends.    
“You better.” Yuna scooted over to Hana and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. “We’ll be mad if you don’t, y’know.”

“Yeah, I know.” Hana hugged her friend in return, and Dae-hyun joined in, followed by Kyung-Soo, more widely known as King, and Seung-Hwa, or Overlord. The last member of their little group sat off to the side on the couch, trying his best to put on a tough-guy act, until Hana glared daggers at him. “C’mon, Casino, I’m gonna miss you too. Just get in here.”

When Hana made it back home, her tears had mostly dried, however she didn’t feel much better on the inside. The first thing she saw when she walked into the living room was a unfamiliar black-haired, brown-skinned woman in a simple muted blue t-shirt and black jeans. She was sitting on the couch conversing with Angela and Sombra, who Hana assumed had shown up while she was away. Upon noticing her arrival, Angela beckoned her over.   
“Hana, this is Satya. She’ll be taking you to Watchpoint via… magical means.” 

The woman, Satya, tilted her lips up in a slight smile. “Hello, Hana.”

Hana recalled Satya’s name from Sombra’s tales of her fellow Mythicals, but did not recognize the woman in front of her as the same one from the photo.  _ Must be her human disguise. _ She politely returned Satya’s greeting and ran over to Sombra. “Hi Olivia!”

The former Hunter laughed. “Hello,  _ amiga _ . You’ve got your bags packed, yeah?” 

“Yeah… I’ll go get them.” Hana trudged upstairs to grab her suitcases, Fareeha in tow to do the heavy lifting. A yawn sounded from the door leading to the basement, and a bedraggled Moira emerged from the dark stairwell. 

“She’s leaving already?”   
“Yes, but I’m sure she’ll want to say goodbye to you. And,” Angela added with a mischievous twinkle, “I know you want to see her off as well.”

Moira stiffened, adopting a firm stance and a solemn expression. “That is irrelevant.” A pause. “Although… I would like to not miss her departure.”

Hana came back downstairs to Satya weaving her magic. Intrigued, she walked closer, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her from going any farther. 

“You don’t want to bother Satya when she’s doing her stuff,” Sombra whispered in her ear. “She gets rather… upset when surprised. Believe me, I know from personal experience.”

“ _ She _ can also hear you quite well, Sombra. And I did warn you.” Satya turned to the two. “Hana, feel free to observe. Sombra here is… how do you say it? A pain in the ass, but not literally.” 

Hana laughed. “What are you making?”

“A portal. This will take you from this house here directly to Reyes’s office at Watchpoint.” 

_ Reyes, _ Fareeha added,  _ is Angela’s friend, the director of the school _ .

Satya finished her spell as Angela and Moira returned to the living room. “Well, Hana, you’d best be going.” Angela stepped forward and planted a gentle kiss on Hana’s forehead. “We’ll miss you,  _ Schatzi _ .” Fareeha gave her a hug from behind, and Hana wriggled around in her armored grasp, wrapping her arms as much as she could around Fareeha’s chestplate. 

Seeing Moira off to the side, she ducked out of Fareeha’s embrace and approached the banshee. “Moira, are you gonna say anything?”

The older woman paused briefly. “Hana, it’s really been a pleasure to, uh, have a hand in raising you all these years.” She smiled and ruffled Hana’s hair. The girl laughed.

“Ha, Moira, you make it sound like you’ll never see me again! You’re so dramatic!” She hugged Moira tightly, and to her surprise, the banshee hugged her back. 

“Ah, well, I’ve never been good at saying goodbye.”

Hana, followed by Sombra, stepped out of Satya’s portal into a dimly lit room. The Hunter looked around briefly, then, to Hana’s surprise, began to speak loudly. Very loudly, given her small stature.

“GABE,” she bellowed, “STOP BEING EDGY AND COME GREET YOUR NEW STUDENT, EH?” 

A deep laugh sounded from the far end of the room. Hana squinted, and was able to see a figure in the corner, standing in the corner farthest away from the windows. “What, you didn’t get Amélie’s vampire eyes, Olivia?” Gabriel Reyes, head of Watchpoint Academy, reached over to what Hana assumed was a light switch and flicked it on. He held out his hand. “Welcome. Hana, is it?”

She took his hand and shook it, albeit not without apprehension. “Yeah, uh, Hana Song.”

“Great. I’m Headmaster Reyes, but you can call me Gabe. Everyone does, no thanks to this one.” He cast a sidelong glance at Sombra, who smiled innocently. 

Hana squinted at the man. “If you’re a friend of Angela’s… are you a…”

“Mythical? Yes, in a sense, although unlike most of you, I was once human.” He sat down at his desk and pulled Hana’s papers up on his computer. “I made a… deal with Angela, the Witch, before she decided to settle down with Fareeha and  _ not  _ hurt humans anymore.” 

“Angela used to be evil or something?”

“You could say so. It was eventually Fareeha who started her change of heart, and after Angela left her old life behind, she let me go as well.” A few clicks of the mouse, and Gabriel leaned back in his chair. “There. You should be in the system now. Let’s get you situated, shall we?”

As Hana followed Gabriel through Watchpoint, questions tumbled around in her mind, mainly about Angela’s “past life,” as Gabriel had called it. There was little time for questions on Gabriel’s tour of the school, however, and she resolved to instead ask Angela later. Somewhere around the cafeteria, she inadvertently tuned out Gabriel’s voice and became lost in her own thoughts until an unfamiliar voice shook her out of it. 

“Hey, Mr. Reyes!” A cheerful, red-haired girl waved at Gabriel, and he beckoned her over. 

“Hana, this is Brigitte Lindholm. Brigitte, Hana Song. She transferred here today.”

“Hiya! Brigitte, but you can call me Brig. I’m going into my fourth year. You?”

Hana was taken aback by the girl’s outgoing and cheerful manner. “Uh, yeah, me too.” 

Gabriel cleared his throat. “Uh, actually, Brigitte, I was looking for you. Hana’s actually going to be your roommate. Could you show her the dorms?”

“Really? That’s great!” Brigitte clapped her hands. “Right, then. Hand me one of those bags and follow me.”

“So, Hana.” Brigitte pressed one of the buttons for the elevator. “Where you from?”

“Uh, Germany. I mean, I know I don’t look like it but I’m adopted.” A pause. “Um, what about you?”

“Sweden. But my dad actually works here so I’ve been living here for a while.” The elevator door opened, and after walking in, Hana noticed instead of numbers on the buttons, they were labeled according to what was on that floor. Brigitte pressed the button titled “DORMS - YEAR 4” and the elevator began its ascent. “He and Mr. Reyes have been friends for a long time.”

Hana wanted to ask if Brigitte was also a Mythical, but remembered Angela’s words.  _ Never reveal yourself to someone if you don’t need to. _ Deciding against it, she nodded. “So… you’ve been here awhile?”

“Yeah, a bunch of us fourth years have known each other since our first year here.” Noticing the look on Hana’s face, she added, “But we’re really friendly, you know. You’ll get along great with us.” The elevator chimed and the door opened. Before Hana could protest, her soon-to-be roommate grabbed both her bags and began the walk down the hallway. Passing by doors, she began to list off the people inside that she knew. 

“Room 433. Lena Oxton and Emily O’Reilly. They’re so gay for each other, it’s actually really funny.

“Room 425, Aleksandra Zaryanova. We just call her Zarya. If you ever want to do some weightlifting at, like, five in the morning, just ask her.

“Room 423, Mei-Ling Zhou, or Mei for short. She’s some kind of climate activist, the new Greta Thunberg, or something. Everyone’s placing bets on whether she or Rat will ask the other out first.”

“Rat?”

“Jamison Fawkes, his room is on the boys’ side of the dorms. His nickname is Junkrat, but we shortened it to Rat, so I guess Rat is his… nick-nickname?” She giggled. “Anyway. Room 419. This is me, or us, I guess.” She held the door open for Hana as she dragged her bags in. 

The room was neat and sparsely furnished, with a bunk bed at the far end, near the window, and two desks against the wall across from it. A door off to the side led to a small bathroom. There were two closets built into the wall, and Brigitte opened one for Hana to place her luggage in. “I’ve been using the bottom bunk, so you’ll be taking the top, unless you’d rather be on the bottom. There are coat hangers in the closet, pens and pencils in your desk drawer, and spare toiletries in the bathroom, although Reyes would prefer if we just used our own. Those are for emergencies.” Frowning, she looked at the clock on the wall. “Almost 22:00. About time for lights out.”

Hana nodded. “No, it’s fine. I’ll take the top bunk. Yeah, I’m feeling a bit tired as well. Can I, uh, use this?” She gestured to the bathroom.

“Yeah, duh. This is your room too, isn’t it?” Brigitte smiled and climbed under the covers on the bottom bunk. I’m gonna turn in for the night, you get washed up, yeah? Must’ve been a long flight here.” 

Brigitte’s infectious cheerful nature began to get to Hana, and she smiled back at the taller girl. “Uh, yeah, long flight. Well, I’ll just go, I guess.” A pause. “Oh, Brigitte?”

“Mmm… yeah?”

“Thanks.” Hana closed the door to the bathroom behind her and let out a small huff of amusement.  _ Long flight? If only she knew. _

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> brig and hana are not in room 420, i'm sorry to disappoint


	6. how to make new friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow we're actually getting to the main plot what

“...Yes, Papa, I’ll be fine. No, I don’t need anything. ...What? No, I’m not lonely. I have a roommate, remember? Yeah, okay, thanks. I’ll see you soon. Bye.” Brigitte tapped the “end call” button on her phone and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Papa… He means well, I know he does. It’s just that sometimes he gets a little… overbearing, y’know?” She turned to her new roommate, who was, as usual, tapping madly at her phone with a serious expression on her face. 

Hana paused her game, setting her phone to the side. “Uh, not really.”

Brigitte laughed, that same melodic laughter Hana had been hearing for the past two days. Her stay at Watchpoint had been nothing short of eventful, given that the majority of her waking hours were spent touring the school and meeting various faculty members. School was due to start the next day, and surprisingly, Hana felt fairly comfortable, despite the fact that she was hundreds of kilometers away from home at a boarding school. She was pulled from her musing by Brigitte’s voice again. 

“Whaddya mean ‘not really?’ You don’t have a dad who constantly checks up on you and asks if you’re doing fine despite the fact that you told him you were fine sixteen hours ago?”

“Well,” Hana began, “not really.”

“Again with the ‘not really’? Hana, either you have a dad or you don’t, there isn’t a ‘not really.’”

“That,” Hana countered, “is where it gets complicated. See, I’m adopted, right? So I technically do have a dad, but I’ve never met him. I got another mom instead. Well, two other moms, actually. And they’re really the only people I’ve ever thought of as parents ‘cause I’ve never actually  _ met _ my bio dad and mom, y’know?” 

Brigitte was taken aback. “ _ Three _ moms?”

“Yeah, Angela and Fareeha have been dating for-” Hana stopped herself after realizing she had been about to say  _ four hundred years _ \- “a while, and Moira’s just there ‘cause apparently Angie and Ree couldn’t raise me on their own.” 

“Hana Song, you are  _ so much _ more interesting than you let on.” Brigitte checked the analog clock on the nightstand next to their bunk bed. “Oh, we should go to breakfast, yeah?” She skipped over to the door of their room and held it open for Hana. “After you,  _ madame _ .”

The cafeteria was, as per the usual during breakfast, full of hungry, noisy teenagers who wanted nothing more than to fill their stomachs. Hana filled her tray and chose an empty table close to the exit, waiting for Brigitte to come out of the line and join her. Biting into a roll, she watched other students file in, recognizing close to no one save for the few she had already met. Zarya, a muscular, pink-haired Russian girl, waved her over. “Hana! Sit with us, will you?” 

With the timid manner she had adopted since coming to Watchpoint, Hana approached Zarya’s table. Brigitte had noticed and was making her way over, and already sitting down were Zarya, Mei, and two other girls engaged in a heated conversation, one with short brown hair and one with red. She set her tray down next to Zarya, with Brigitte on her other side. 

The brown-haired girl waved and stuck her hand out for Hana. “Hana, right? Oh, Brig’s told us a little ‘bout you! Don’t worry though, love, nothing bad yet. I’m Lena, by the way. Lena Oxton.” Her enthusiasm, Hana noted, could rival Brigitte’s, and coupled with her heavy Cockney accent, Lena painted a comical character who radiated what Hana could describe as warmth. Smiling in return, she shook the hand offered to her. 

“Yeah, Hana Song, that’s me. It’s, uh, nice to meet you, Lena.”

“Likewise!” Lena turned back to the red-haired girl sitting next to her. “Now, as I was saying, pineapple and pizza make a fine combination, Em!”

Emily shook her head in mock disappointment. “As much as I love you, Lena, your views on pizza toppings are the one thing I absolutely cannot get behind.” 

“Oi,” a voice shouted from another table, “Everyone knows bananas are the best thing t’ put on yer pizza, mate!” Jamison Fawkes, more affectionately known as Junkrat, grinned over at their group and winked at Mei, who stuck her tongue out at the Australian boy but had a grin on her face when she turned back around.

Hana laughed along with the rest of their table as Lena and Emily continued their debate, and as breakfast continued, she found herself joining in on the conversation as well. It wasn’t until she stood up to place her empty tray in the bin that she realized how much fun she was having. In the moment, she had forgotten she would be starting school soon, and that she had only known her new friends for a couple days. To her, it felt like she had been talking and laughing with them for months or even years. 

The din in the cafeteria was beginning to die down, and as students left to relax in their dorms or go out into town for their last day of summer break, Hana noticed a boy wearing a pair of bright green headphones sitting in the back of the room. He sat in front of a computer and what looked like a mini keyboard, occasionally pressing the keys. He would often stop and close his eyes, listening to whatever was coming through his headphones. His skin was a dark brown, about the same shade as Gabriel’s, and his dreadlocks were kept in a high ponytail. He wore a sleeveless green shirt and faded blue jeans that, in Hana’s opinion, complimented his headphones quite nicely.

“Oi, Hana, whatcha lookin’ at, love?” Lena’s voice over her shoulder startled her, and she quickly realized she’d been staring at the boy for longer than she thought she had been. The British girl followed her gaze, and she nudged Hana gently. “That guy over there? Hold on a sec.” Lena winked conspiratorially and ran off to get his attention. 

“Wait, Lena, no-” Hana sighed after realizing the other girl was already out of earshot. Brigitte, who had been standing next to Lena, laughed softly. Hana turned around to say something, but Lena’s return with a certain brown-haired boy stopped her.

“Hana, meet Lucio. Lucio Cor- how do you say it?”

“Lucio Correia dos Santos. Nice to meet you. Hana, was it?” He held out his hand, and Hana shook it, nodding. She had started to introduce herself as well when, for the second time in the past minute, she was interrupted by Lena.

“Lucio here, he makes music, like that kinda funky dance music. EDM, I think. Now, I’m not generally into that stuff, but it’s pretty good, if you ask me.”

Lucio smiled at the shorter girl. “Aw, thanks, Lena. You flatter me.” A pause. “Anyway, uh, I got a song to finish, and I assume you ladies have things to do, so I’ll see you around, yeah?”

“Totally.” Brigitte flashed Lucio a thumbs-up. He grinned and began to make his way back to his table. 

“Oh, before I forget. Here,” he handed Hana a piece of paper. “That’s my SoundCloud. Feel free to take a listen, will ya? It was nice to meet you, Hana.”

* * *

Angela leaned back in the recliner, Fareeha sitting on the armrest next to her. “It’s rather lonely here without Hana, don’t you think?”

“Not lonely, or at least I don’t think so. Just more quiet,” Moira responded, taking a sip of her tea. “Speaking of Hana, have we ever tried to get in touch with her father?”

“Her father? No. I mean, if he left Jin-Ae and Hana to fend for themselves like that, it’s probably safe to assume he doesn’t want her in his life.” 

Fareeha nodded her agreement.  _ Why else would he just up and leave them like that? _

“Well, it’s just… We all know Yeon is an ass, but this seems out of character, even for him. It’s been a while since Hana was born, maybe he’ll want to see her.” 

Angela pondered Moira’s statement for a moment. “Actually, Moira, that does make sense. It’s really the first sensible thing that’s come out of your mouth in years,” she jabbed. Moira scoffed.

“I’ll go find him.”

Fareeha held up a hand. _ Wait. I’ll go with you, just because you and the fox don’t exactly have the best history. It’ll be safer if we both go. _

The banshee smirked in response. “Oh, she  _ does _ care about me after all.” She felt Fareeha’s withering glare, nonexistent as it was, and shrugged. “Right, right. You’re doing this for Hana’s sake. Wouldn’t want her to come back and find out her dad ate me or whatever.”

If Fareeha could, she would have rolled her eyes.  _ We leave tomorrow morning. _

Moira nodded curtly and retired to her room in the basement. Angela giggled softly. “I’m glad to see you’re warming up to people, ‘Ree.”

_ I am not… warming up to her. I am simply going because trouble follows Moira wherever she goes and as much as I do not want to admit it, she is a part of this family now.  _

“Mhm. You know,” Angela continued, wrapping her arms around her partner’s metal body, “It’s okay to admit you two are developing a friendship.” 

_ Oh, piss off.  _

Angela merely grinned. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pineapple on pizza is amazing and i will fight you on that. also junkrat totally puts bananas on his pizzas im sorry i dont make the rules
> 
> ALSO i try to respond to all of yalls comments but i'm really bad at writing responses so if i don't respond it's not because i hate you, it's because i can't think of a response. haha sorry


	7. how to get to know people

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hana talks to Lucio. Typical teenage confusion ensues.

“You know, Amari, I simply don’t understand why you don’t just use your human disguise all the time,” Moira said, slinging a light backpack over her back. “It certainly is more… conventional than your armor.”

_ I don’t feel the need to _ , Fareeha replied.  _ The body I have is a good reminder of who I am now.  _ Instead of metal, however, her hands had the appearance of flesh and bone. Fareeha’s human disguise, courtesy of Angela, was her mortal appearance from centuries ago, with tanned skin and mid-length dark hair. A small tattoo, the  _ udjat _ , adorned her cheek beneath her right eye.

Moira scoffed. “Reminders of the past do nothing to help the future. Besides, I haven’t seen your human appearance in a couple hundred years, it’ll take some getting used to.”

_ That is where I beg to differ. _ Before Fareeha could elaborate, however, Angela came out to see them off.

“Stay safe, okay?”

“Angela, please. I’m not a child. Plus, I have your  _ dashing  _ and  _ heroic _ Guardian with me, how could anything happen?”

The Witch rolled her eyes, then turned to Fareeha. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen your face,  _ ja _ ? I’ve missed this.” She ran a hand over Fareeha’s “cheek,” but, as expected, all she felt was solid metal, proof that despite her outward appearance, Fareeha was still a soul trapped in a suit of armor. The lips of her disguise curled up into a small smile as Fareeha wrapped an arm around Angela. 

“If you two are done here, we should get going. The sun will come up soon, and the rest of the human population will soon follow.”

“Yes, yes, I’m well aware.” Angela released Fareeha with a quick kiss to her other cheek. “I won’t keep you longer.” 

And they were off, two figures speeding through the dim light of the approaching dawn, faster than the mortal eye could track, moving toward the east in search of the absentee father of the girl they had raised for fourteen years.

* * *

Lena laughed triumphantly as she placed a card down on the pile in front of her. “Uno!”

Sitting to her left, Mei sighed. “I do not understand why I take time out of my schedule to play this game with you people.”

“As if you have anything else to do today,” Brigitte shot back, placing one of her cards down on the stack. “It’s Friday afternoon, Mei. We have two days of relaxation to indulge in idiotic activities.”

“I do! I have another campaign to organize, and I have another article on climate change to finish writing!”

“Yeah, yeah. The world is burning up, we’re all gonna die, what’s new?” Lena smiled at the Chinese girl. “You deserve some time to have fun too, love.” 

“I do have fun! Do you remember that one time we went to the arcade?”

“Yes, you spent most of the time glued to Jamison and giving him puppy eyes while he played Terminator.” Zarya scanned the cards in her hand, then placed one down. A skip. Emily gave the pink-haired girl a dirty scowl, receiving an innocent smile in return. Mei’s face took on a deep shade of pink.

“I- I did not! I just thought it was cool!”

“Uh, guys? I hate to interrupt, but your man in question just got here.” Hana glanced over towards the door. “Oh, and he brought Lucio.”

“Oi, mates!” Rat practically kicked in the door to the common room and sauntered in, holding a box of donuts. “I got the goods!” Lena shrieked in delight and pounced on the box, the game of UNO completely forgotten. Lucio followed his roommate in, holding a stereo and a few CDs, which he placed on a nearby table. He waved to Hana, who waved back, albeit a bit sheepishly, as she walked over to look at the CDs he had brought. 

“Is this your music?” she asked, picking up one of the discs. On it, in blocky handwriting, was written “TRACK 1 - 11.”

He nodded. “Yeah, it’s actually one of my first albums, but they seem to like it better than my most recent music.” He put the disc in and the stereo began to play. 

The first song had an opening of what Hana could only describe as “waves” of sound, backed by a steady beat and synthesized chimes.  _ Lena was right, I guess it is pretty good music. _

“And you make all of this yourself?” Hana turned to Lucio, who had his eyes closed and was nodding his head in time with the beat. 

“Yup,” he replied. “I’ve gotten inspiration from other EDM artists though.”

“It’s really cool.” Hana didn’t know what else to say, given that she didn’t know much about music herself. Lucio nodded his thanks and their conversation lapsed into silence. Fortunately, Hana was saved from further awkwardness when a shout sounded from the far end of the room and a chair flew across her field of vision, followed by an angry-looking Brigitte chasing after Rat. Shortly after, the room exploded into raucous laughter. 

The sudden, unorganized loud noises had startled Hana, Lucio noticed. He scooted closer to her and placed an arm around her shoulders. “Hey, Hana, you alright there?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m fine. It’s just-” She paused. “I know you probably don’t get this, but I just have this… thing where loud overlapping noises tend to screw with my brain.” In truth, it was due to her superhuman hearing and ability to hear every little noise made by her friends in the room. Normally, Hana was able to filter out which ones to pay attention to, but an auditory overload such as the one she was currently experiencing gave her some trouble. 

“Heh. Well, the funny thing is,” Lucio rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, “I don’t usually talk about this, but sometimes I get sensory overload too, y’know? It’s not usually from sound, because, well, I work with music, but it happens sometimes.” He stood up and jabbed a thumb at the door. “Wanna go outside and get some fresh air?”

Hana looked up in surprise at the boy’s confession. “Sure, thanks.” After following Lucio outside, the more ambient atmosphere and familiar noises of nature began to settle her nerves. Despite it being the beginning of fall, the weather was still adequately warm, a welcome change from the cold winters in Eichenwalde. After a few minutes, she turned to Lucio. “So, Lucio. Uh, We haven’t really talked much, have we?” In the two weeks she’d been at Watchpoint, she’d seen him in the hallways and in the cafeteria at lunch, always wearing his signature headphones. They’d waved as they passed, but hadn’t exchanged words since their first meeting before the beginning of school. He occasionally hung out with them, but mostly kept to himself, as far as Hana knew.

“Hm. I guess not.” He tilted his head slightly, contemplating. “I do tend to get too caught up in my music sometimes.” 

She let out a soft laugh. “I think it’s nice that you’re passionate about something.” A pause. “But hey, if you ever wanna come hang out with us more, I think they’d really like having you around.”

“Haha, yeah. It’s usually Rat who drags me to outings, ‘cause he’s my roommate and all. ‘Lucio, ya need ta learn to have some real fun!’” 

Hana laughed. His impression of Rat was almost flawless. “Hey, he’s doing you a favor.” She elbowed him teasingly. “Oh, by the way. We’re going into town tomorrow, if you’d, uh, like to join us. I mean, you don’t have to, I’m not forcing you into anything, but-”

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ll go with y’all.” Lucio smiled. 

“Oh, uh, great!” Hana’s phone buzzed. A missed call from Angela. “Uh, I gotta take this, but yeah! I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

He nodded. “See ya, Hana!”

* * *

Arriving at her room, Hana called Angela, but received no response. Opting instead to leave a voice message, she sat on her bed and began to speak. 

“Hey, Angie. School is actually kinda fun, for once. I’ve made a bunch of friends and I’m getting my homework turned in on time. All the usual. I’m settling in fairly nicely. I haven’t had any problems with my disguise yet, so thanks for teaching me those spells.” She continued on, talking about her classes and schedule, until the tone beeped to signify the limit on message length. Smiling, she snapped a selfie and sent it to Angela along with her voice message. She started another message and began speaking into the phone again. 

“So, Angie, there’s this guy, Lucio. And we really only talked today, but he’s really nice and sometimes I feel like he  _ gets _ me, y’know? He makes music and it’s actually pretty good. He’s nice and I really like him, but probably not like  _ that _ . I mean, I wouldn’t know what  _ that _ feels like. I was actually hoping to get your advice on this. ‘Cause like, he’s my friend, or at least I think he is, but I’ve never really connected with anyone else like this before, not even my old friends. 

And the thing is, I don’t know if I want to date anyone at this stage of life. I mean, I’ve got  _ loads  _ of other problems, right? I just…” Hana trailed off, pausing the recording. She flopped backwards, head hitting the pillow. 

“Ugh, what am I doing?” She stared at the ceiling. “I’ve literally known him for two weeks- I mean, we’re really only talked  _ twice _ .” Hana stared at the unsent voice message, thinking for a few moments. “...nah, it’s fine. It’s probably just the fact that I’m making so many new friends. That’s probably what it is.” Deleting the message without sending it, she lay back again.  _ At least that’s what I hope it is. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so they actually have lucio's songs on spotify and i'm ngl they're lowkey a bop. I was listening to them while writing this chapter hehe (The album is "Synaesthesia Auditiva" by Derek Duke.  
> I also don't know shit about the european school system OR the weather here so I've been doing a lot of research. If I got anything wrong feel free to let me know :/
> 
> also this chapter was really bad i might rewrite it later
> 
> update: I'll probably draw very basic designs of each character's outfit sometime (they're p similar to their default skins in-game) but here's [Lucio](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/326108056377360387/782736870194806784/sketch-1606689340967.png?width=224&height=493)


	8. how to find people who don't want to be found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> quality bonding time

Despite the early morning, the sun was already hot and beating down on the group as they made their way toward the mall. Rat laughed as he skipped along the pavement, wearing his usual attire of a dusty brown tank top and similarly-colored shorts. Hana often wondered if he owned multiple pairs of the same clothes, or if he simply chose to wear the same outfit every day. She assumed it was the former, as the boy didn’t smell particularly bad, but occasionally she caught a whiff of what she assumed was teenage B.O. whenever he was around. “Ah, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been here, eh?” 

“Yeah,” Brigitte said, “‘cause last time we came here you tried to set the plants on fire. I briefly considered not bringing you along, y’know.”

“Oh, lighten up, mate!” Rat giggled and wrapped an arm around the newest addition to the group, Lucio. “I couldn’t just stay home and leave my dear ol’ roomie to suffer without me.”

The dark-skinned boy laughed nervously. “Uh… Thanks, Jamie.”

“Anyway,” Lena spoke loudly to be heard over Rat’s chatter, “We’re here, so everyone knows the drill, yeah? Stick with a buddy as if we’re still in primary school and be back by noon!” She grabbed Emily’s hand and dragged her off to one of the nearby stores. A candy store, by the looks of it. Hana made to follow them, but was stopped by Brigitte’s hand on her shoulder. 

“Trust me, Hana, you really shouldn’t bother them when they have their… alone time. Third wheeling, not fun.” She left in the opposite direction with Zarya and Mei. 

“Wait, what am I supposed to do?” Hana yelled after her.

“Anything, really!” The red-haired girl shouted over her shoulder. “Just don’t die or anything, ‘kay?”

Hana scanned her surroundings, considering her options for the next two hours. Her gaze eventually landed on a small frozen yogurt shop a few doors down from where Lena and Emily had gone. She turned to Lucio and Rat, the only two people who had not yet left. “Uh, do you guys wanna maybe go there?” She jerked a thumb at the sign in front of the shop. 

Rat nodded enthusiastically, and Lucio shrugged. “Whatever suits you, Hana.” 

Fifteen minutes later, Rat was on what Lucio had only described as a “sugar high.” The hallway was filled with the sounds of running footsteps, cackling laughter, and the occasional bang, which Hana assumed was Rat running into the walls. Exhausted, she covered her face with her hands.

“Jamison, _please._ We’re getting weird looks from people.”

“Looks? That’s amazing, mate! I _am_ the comic relief after all.” Another bout of maniacal laughter, and Hana sighed in defeat.

Lucio placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Ah, he’ll come around. In the meantime…” He paused, gesturing to a nearby music store. “Wanna come with me?”

“We won’t lose Rat, right?”

“Nah, he’s pretty easy to find. Besides, he’s mostly harmless, I don’t think he’ll actually hurt anyone.”

Hana laughed. “Lead the way then, Mr. dos Santos.”

A soft jazzy tune played as Hana and Lucio entered the store. The cashier smiled and nodded in greeting, which Lucio returned. The boy made a beeline for the electric piano in the back of the room, Hana following in his wake. She inspected the CDs and records lining the walls. _I’ve never seen half this stuff before. Must be old._ She was interrupted from her thoughts when a pleasant melody rippled through the store, originating from the back.

Lucio’s fingers moved across the keys, quick and fluid, as if he had been playing his entire life. _He probably has,_ Hana mused. His playing was almost magical, enveloping her in its warm sound, and she found herself drawn to him as if he were calling her. When she reached him, the song abruptly stopped. 

“...Hana?”

Hana opened her eyes, realizing in her stupor she had wrapped her arms around Lucio’s shoulders. She quickly jumped off him, face reddening with embarrassment. “Oh! I- uh, didn’t mean to do that, it’s just that your playing-”

He smiled. “I know, you’re good. You just surprised me.” He returned to the piano and began to play another melody, one that Hana recognized. She recoiled in mock disgust. 

“Is that- Is that the Crazy Frog song?”

He grinned. “Yeah, it’s actually one of my favorites. I know it annoys people though.”

She stared at him in disbelief. “You, my friend, are utterly despicable.”

* * *

Moira looked down at her smartphone for what felt like the fifteenth time. “...Tibet? We’re in _Tibet_? Why aren’t we in Seoul?”

 _We were in Seoul two weeks ago, Moira._ Fareeha let out an inaudible sigh. _He wasn’t there. Or anywhere on the entire Korean peninsula, for that matter._

The banshee coughed. “Right. And do you mind telling me why we’re _here_ of all places, in the literal middle of nowhere?”

 _I sensed a presence,_ Fareeha replied. _Besides, Lhasa is a few minutes away, and we need a place to stay for the night._

“A presence? You dragged us all the way out here because of a _presence_? This is the last time I let you lead the way, Amari.” 

_You can’t tell me you don’t feel it too, Moira. Now get up, we should find a motel or something before dark._

Moira closed her eyes and concentrated. “Now that you point it out… I do feel something. Mythical energy, most likely.”

 _Exactly. I’m hoping it’s Yeon, although I’d be surprised to find him all the way out here._ Fareeha leapt into the air and began to fly, Moira following after her. 

The motel was dark, dusty, and rather empty for a motel along a popular traveling route. Moira approached the desk. “Two rooms, please. One for me and one for my companion.” 

While the attendant prepared their rooms, Fareeha scanned the lobby and tapped Moira on the shoulder to get her attention. _It’s a lot stronger here._

The banshee nodded and was about to reply when the sound of heavy boots echoed in the stairwell. Moira stiffened. “Fareeha, we need to go-”

“Go where, O’Deorain?” 

A man stood in the doorway, half covered by the serape draped over his shoulder. He was dressed in old-fashioned American cowboy garb, complete with the hat and boots. Brown hair framed a bearded face, from which dark eyes gleamed from underneath the hat. 

Moira turned around and faced the man, a calm, collected expression adorning her face. “Jesse McCree. I didn’t think you were one to frequent this area.” 

“What I do and where I go is really none of your business.” Jesse’s eyes shifted to Fareeha, who was standing behind Moira. “‘Reeha? The fuck are you doin’ here with this witch?”

Fareeha began to sign, then gave up, remembering Jesse had never learned the language. She elbowed Moira, and the banshee explained for her.

“We’re looking for Yeon.”

“That’s a mighty poor explanation, banshee. You and I both know Yeon ain’t been in contact with us for quite a quite a while.”

Fareeha released another silent sigh and grabbed Moira’s smartphone from her pocket, ignoring her protests. Her fingers flew across the keys, telling Hana’s story and her relationship with Yeon, and she stuck the phone out in front of her. Jesse’s eyebrows furrowed as he read the text. 

“I see.” He glanced up at Moira and smirked. “Never took you for one to settle down, O’Deorain.” 

The remainder of the night was spent catching up with Jesse, much to Moira’s apprehension. His companion, Hanzo, joined them soon after, explaining that he and Jesse were traveling to Nepal to find Hanzo’s brother and his teacher. 

“I wish to… talk to Genji. I would like to pay my respects.” He paused. “If you two would like, you may accompany us on our trip there. Yeon will likely be somewhere in the steppes anyway, and I’ve heard rumors of the Hunters’ guild growing in number.”

“The steppes?”

“That is where he was last seen. A couple years ago, I believe.”

Moira thought for a moment. “If we find him…”

 _He’ll most likely not be in an agreeable mood,_ Fareeha signed as Moira translated. _It would be nice to have backup. Especially if the Hunters are increasing in number again._

Hanzo nodded. “Very well. We leave tomorrow morning. I aim to reach the temple in three days’ time.”

“Wait,” Jesse interjected, “Does that mean I gotta travel with _Moira_?”

“Yes. You can tolerate her for a few days. It’s better for us to travel in larger groups, if we want to stay safe.”

The werewolf groaned. “To think I would have to spend that much time with her…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lucio??? what u doin???
> 
> also [Lena's design (pose taken from her pose in the overwatch art, it's the same with Lucio's but I forgot to mention that, oops)](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/326108056377360387/783135031710580756/sketch-1606783974048.png)
> 
> ALSO, if anyone is confused about the timeline:  
> t = present day (in the story)  
> t minus ~14 years - Angela "adopts" Hana  
> t minus ~8 months - Hana's first tail appears  
> t minus ~3 months - Angela and Fareeha tell Hana she will be attending Watchpoint  
> t minus ~2 weeks - Hana starts school, Fareeha and Moira leave to find Yeon
> 
> I hope that clears things up


	9. how to talk about love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hana is faced with a difficult decision, Junkrat gets sad, and Lena is the best wingman (wingwoman?).

Jesse sighed, sweeping his hair back under his hat. “We've been walking through this snow for twenty fuckin’ hours, Hanzo.”

“We stopped to rest a few times because  _ someone _ needed to relieve himself,” the oni replied. 

“That ain’t my point. Do ya mind tellin’ us where we’re even going?”

“I have already told you multiple times. We are going to the Shambali monastery where my brother currently resides with his master.”

“Well, yeah, but  _ where? _ Where is it?”

“Nepal. We are almost there.” Hanzo glanced down at his phone. “The closest town is Kathmandu. We’ll stay there for the night and arrive at the monastery by midday tomorrow, provided McCree doesn’t hold us up again with his bite-sized bladder.” Ignoring the werewolf’s protests, Hanzo returned to his place at the head of the group and continued walking.

Moira cast a sidelong glance at Fareeha.  _ They bicker more than you and Angela did when you first met. How long do you wager it will take them to start fucking too? _

Fareeha rolled her “eyes.”  _ Please, Moira. We had more class than that. _

_ Speaking of which, how does it even work nowadays? You don’t exactly have a....  _

_ Wouldn’t you like to know?  _ Fareeha shoved the banshee off the trail, who fell with a surprised yelp. McCree and Hanzo both turned around at the sudden noise, but neither felt it was a matter worth commenting on. 

The remainder of the day’s travel was spent in relative silence, with the occasional question of “Are we there yet?” from Jesse. As the sun slipped under the horizon, the group reached the limits of the city, and set off in search of an inn. As they drew closer to the center of the city, the hair on the back of Moira’s neck pricked up, and she noted that Jesse was having a similar response. 

“McCree…”   
‘Yeah, Moira, I feel it too.” He turned to Hanzo. “What d’you reckon it is?”

Instead of responding, the archer led them into a back alley, scouring the graffiti that adorned the walls. Finding what he was looking for, he placed a finger on the symbol. A skull, devils’ horns protruding from it, crossed out by a red X-mark. Jesse failed to contain his surprise.

“Hunters? This far east?”

“I’d heard rumors, but I think this confirms it,” Hanzo replied. “We’d best lay low and leave as soon as possible.”

None of them noticed a tall, muscular man and a white-haired woman watching them from across the street, cigarette in hand.

* * *

“...and that’s it for today, folks.” Mr. Winston snapped his lecture book shut and wiped down the whiteboard. “Remember, your homework is to read pages 419 through 425, take notes, and complete the practice problems on 427.” The bell rang, signifying the end of the school day, and the hallways flooded with students, all ready to get back to their dorms and relax. Hana leaned back in her chair and stretched, then reached down to shove her notebooks back in her bag when a looming shadow appeared over her. She looked up to see Rat staring down at her with a sheepish grin on his face. “Hey, Jamie. What’s up?”

“Well,” he began nervously, “Y’see, I wasn’t exactly uh… paying attention during Winston’s class, and I  _ may _ have forgotten t’ take notes.” He held out his empty notebook. “D’ya mind if I look at yer notes and use ‘em for the homework?”

“Yeah, sure,” Hana replied, zipping up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. “Meet me in the commons in half an hour?”

The taller boy nodded his thanks and Hana returned to her dorm, finding another missed call from Angela. This time, a voicemail was attached, and Hana opened it.

_ “Hello, Schatzi. I’m glad to hear that you are doing well and that you haven’t failed your classes yet. If you ever have any problems with your Shift, talk to Gabriel and he can help you. With that out of the way, I’ve got to tell you something. _

_ “Fareeha and Moira left a couple weeks ago to go find Yeon, your biological father. They thought it would be important for you to meet him, but if you don’t feel comfortable doing so, I can let them know to wait. I just… I don’t know if it’s the best idea, but it’s really up to you, Hana. Anyway, I hope to hear back from you, as you’re probably in class right now. Bye!” _

The message ended, and Hana found herself lost in thought.  _ father?  _ Thoughts raced through her mind, about what her mothers had told her about him, about the fact that he had abandoned her and Jin-Ae, about how happy she was now and that his presence just might ruin everything Fareeha, Angela, and Moira had built up. Her phone chimed with a text from Brigitte, interrupting her train of thought.

**b.lindholm15:** hey hana rats asking 4 u in the commons… says he was gonna copy ur hw??

**hananafish:** Wha?? no i said i was gonna help him w it??

**b.lindholm15:** lol he prob thot u were gonna hand him the answers like food @ the cafeteria

**hananafish:** whatever tell him i’ll be down in like 5min

Sighing, Hana tucked her phone in her pocket, picked up her bag, and headed back toward the elevator. 

_ My dad, huh… _

* * *

Her impromptu tutoring session with Rat went rather poorly, even by her standards. Hana constantly found herself distracted or preoccupied with Angela’s message, and Rat often had to repeat questions to her or remind her to stay in the present. Forty-five minutes in, Rat tapped her shoulder again.

“Oi, Hana, yer awful distracted, ya know?”

“Yeah, I know. I just…” She trailed off, not wanting to overwhelm Rat with her problems.

“Oh!” He jumped up. “I know what it is!”

She looked up in surprise. “You do?”

“Yeah, mate!” He leaned in closer, whispering in her ear. “Yer in love, eh?”

Hana’s face reddened. “W-what? No! That’s not what I was thinking about at all, Jamie!” 

“Of course ya are! Y’know, Hana, it’s real easy to tell when a girl likes a guy. Or, well… if she likes a girl too, I guess.”

“Oh?” Hana folded her arms. “Y’know,” she began, imitating his accent, “It’s  _ real _ easy ta tell when a guy likes a girl too.” She poked him in the chest and looked past his shoulder at Mei, who sat at the far end of the room. She was typing something on her laptop, engrossed in her work.

It was Rat’s turn to blush. “Well, y’see, uh…” He grinned nervously.

Hana clapped him on the shoulder. “Just ask her out, will ya?”

He shook his head. “I doubt she’s interested in me, y’know? We’re just friends, and I- I wouldn’t want to ruin our friendship like that.” 

Hana opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Lena’s sudden appearance. 

“What’cha talkin’ ‘bout, loves?” 

Rat seized the opportunity to turn the focus of the conversation to Hana. “Hana here, she’s in love.” He wiggled his eyebrows as the shorter girl shot him a glare. 

“Oh yeah? With who, then?”

The Australian boy let out another giggle. “Lucio, of course!”

Hana’s eyes widened in surprise. Had Rat seen them at the store a couple days ago? Had he seen her walk up to Lucio while he was playing the piano and-

“Oh yeah, right!” Lena grinned. “You two spend a lot of time together, dontcha?”

“No! Well, yeah, I guess we do, but it’s not like that! Girls can hang out with guys without dating them, y’know!”

“Of course I know that,” Lena said, “but I  _ also _ know that a girl doesn’t look at a  _ friend _ like that.”

Hana sputtered. “I’m definitely not in love with him, I know that.”

“Yeah, and I’m not in love with Emily. Denial is the first stage of grief and also the first stage of love. You’ll get over it. Anyway, Lucio’s a pretty cool guy, I think you should go for it and just, like, ask him out or something.” 

“No, I’m not going to-”

“I didn’t say it had to be anytime soon, love, but you might feel better if you did is all ‘m saying.” Lena grinned and gave Hana a two thumbs up, then exited the room.

Rat elbowed Hana, a smirk on his face. She elbowed him back, then paused, an idea dawning in her mind. 

“Hey, Jamie. If I ask Lucio out… Will you ask Mei out?”

“What?” He waved his hands in front of him. “Hell nah, mate! No deal!”

After both of them had settled down and finished Rat’s homework, Hana remembered why she had been so distracted to begin with. She chewed on the end of her pencil in thought.  _ Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask for advice. _

“Hey, Jamie?”

“Yeah?”

“So that thing that’s bothering me- no, it’s not because I’m in love,” she added as he opened his mouth to quip at her. She told him about her family and her father, leaving out and details that would expose her family as Mythicals. He turned out to be a surprisingly good listener, nodding along with her story. When she finished, he tilted back in his chair, letting out a sigh.

“Well, mate, yer dad seems like an asshole, but if I were you, I’d still wanna meet him. Y’know…” He trailed off, pulling something out of his pocket. Hana leaned forward to inspect the object, a photograph by the looks of it. A young Jamison sat, laughing, on the shoulders of a large man wearing what looked like a gas mask.

“Something I don’t really tell people is that I also don’t know my parents. Mako here-” he pointed to the man in the gas mask, “-has raised me since I was three or four, I think.” He returned the photo to his pocket and looked Hana in the eyes. “He knew my parents before they died in a gas leak explosion, and took me in ‘cause he was a good friend of me mum.” His normally cheerful face seemed to droop. “I’d take any opportunity I got to meet my parents, tell them what a good job Mako’s doin’ ‘n maybe show ‘em around my place, y’know? Do things that parents normally do with their kids like-”

He was cut off when Hana wrapped her arms around Rat’s tall, lanky form, and to her surprise, he hugged her back. “Thanks for telling me this, Jamie.”

“Oh, uh, yer very welcome, I guess.”

* * *

Exhausted and full from dinner, Hana plopped herself down on her bunk and pulled her phone out, dialing Angela. The Witch picked up on the second ring.

“Hello,  _ Schatzi. _ ”

“Hey, Angie. Can I uh, ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“When you met Fareeha… How did you know you loved her?”

She could practically hear Angela’s smile through the line. “Hana, love is a funny thing. It’s different for everyone. For me and Fareeha, she was the one who convinced me to settle down with her. I guess a simple way of putting it is, I knew I loved her when I realized I was willing to sacrifice everything I have just to be with her,  _ ja? _ ” She paused, letting Hana digest that information. “Why, is there someone special at Watchpoint?”

“...Maybe. It’s just- I’ve never really had a crush on anyone and maybe I just really like him as a friend.” 

“Hana, being in love isn’t something to be scared of. It’s quite natural for most people. If you think you are interested in starting a relationship with this boy, however…” She paused for dramatic effect. “He’ll have to meet me first.” 

Hana laughed. “Alrighty, Angie, I’ll make sure he does. Oh, My roommate’s back, I gotta go.” Before hanging up, however, she lifted the phone to her ear once more and took a deep breath. “And Angela?”

“Yes?”

“...I think I’d like to meet my father.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok I should come clean and say something I shoulda said a long time ago.  
> I....
> 
> am a Junkrat main. if this chapter didn't already make that obvious.
> 
> also I really didnt plan on including the entire cast in this but it's slowly turning into an ensemble fic adlkfjadslkfajdsfkl
> 
> plus bonus points if you get the reference with Hana's username


	10. how to greet family members you tried to kill centuries ago

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moira is grumpy, Hanzo is sad, and Zenyatta just wants everyone to be happy again. Brigitte has an idea that will definitely not land the gang in trouble.

Hana yawned, rubbing her eyes to clear the sleep from them. _I swear,_ she thought, _it’s way too early to be in a math class._ She wearily looked up at Dr. de Kuiper at the front of the class, doing her best to concentrate and write the many numbers and equations down in her notes. A small paper airplane landed on her desk from behind, and she looked back to see Brigitte grinning at her, miming unfolding her paper creation. Hana nodded, almost imperceptibly, and carefully unfolded the note, revealing Brigitte’s message. 

_OMG de Kuiper’s class is SO BORING, right?_

Hana had to stifle a laugh at the first line, and looked up to check on the man at the front of the classroom. Dr. de Kuiper was still mumbling to himself, writing aimlessly on the board, and Hana felt it safe to continue.

_Anyway, we’re prob getting together tonight and going to the movies or something. That new rom-com came out and Lena can’t wait to criticize it. Yeah, I know, it’s a weekday, but hey, what’s the worst that can happen? What Reyes doesn’t know won’t hurt him :)_

_P.S. Lucio’s gonna be there, we already asked him ;)_

Hana turned around in her seat to look at her friend with a deadly scowl. Brigitte smiled and shrugged as if to say _“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”_

Rolling her eyes, Hana wrote a quick response on the note. 

_Sure, I guess. I don’t think I’ll have a lot of HW anyway._

She refolded the note and tossed it back to Brigitte, over the head of a boy whose name she routinely forgot, although he sat right behind her. Was it Lucas? Luke? Larry? Regardless, he was accustomed to their antics and paid it no more heed than he would a passing fly. 

Brigitte read her response, then gave Hana two thumbs up. Hana returned the gesture. _Alright, now all I got to do is survive the rest of this day…_

* * *

Moira grumbled as she trudged along the snow-covered path, following Hanzo, who had insisted they leave as early as possible. By “early,” the oni had indeed meant early, as he had woken all of them before sunrise, barely giving them a chance to eat before heading out. They’d been walking for six hours, stopping at a trading post to refill their canteens and replenish their supplies, but Hanzo had set them at a breakneck pace with more urgency than before they arrived in Kathmandu.

His hastiness was not without reason, however, as despite her fatigued mind, her senses were still detecting a hint of _something._ That something had been picking at her ever since they discovered the Hunters’ mark in Kathmandu, and it was fairly obvious she wasn’t the only one bothered by it. McCree, she noted, was unnaturally shifty-eyed today, and she had no doubt he was picking up an unfamiliar scent and attempting to locate its position. Fareeha and Hanzo were also on edge, the archer’s hand never straying far from his bow slung over his shoulder, and the Guardian moved as if poised to strike at any given moment. 

This tension didn’t subside even after they reached the outskirts of the temple grounds, greeted by a cultist monk and led into the inner monastery. Meditating inside facing away from the group were two figures. One was another monk, although he radiated more energy than the one which had greeted them. The other had the appearance of a man, dressed in dark colors with his black hair brushed back. Hanzo signaled for them to sit on a nearby bench against the wall, waiting for the meditation session to finish. 

A bell rang a few minutes later, and both the student and master stood, bowing to each other before facing the visitors seated off to the side. Genji, the man in black, smiled at his brother before running to him and embracing the archer in a hug. 

“I missed you, _ani._ It has been quite a while since you’ve visited.”

“It has.” Hanzo hesitated to return his brother’s gesture. “Genji, I-”

“I already told you, Hanzo, I am at peace with my past and I have forgiven you. There is no need to continue to carry this guilt that ails you.” He poked Hanzo in the chest. “Every time we see each other, you are always stuck in the past.”

Hanzo made to reply, but Genji held a hand up, as if to say _“we’ll discuss this later.”_ The younger Shimada turned to Hanzo’s three companions. 

“Amari, McCree. It is good to see you again. O’Deorain…”

“Yes, yes, I’m well aware I’m not the most popular in this region. No need to rub it in.” Moira sighed. “Well, Hanzo, you’ve been united with your brother. Fareeha and I should probably get going.”

“Wait.” Everyone in the room turned to face the voice, which had come from Genji’s master, Zenyatta. Moira had never met the monk, but she knew of him, and knew that the magics he dabbled in were not so different from her own. She had always wanted to examine his craft, although she had not yet gotten the chance. However, now did not feel like the time to ask, when Zenyatta spoke again. 

“I’m sure all of you are aware of the presence of Hunters in this area. This sanctum… it is supposed to be well hidden, but they have discovered its existence and seek to wipe out our sect. Many of my brothers are peace-loving pacifists, and do not take kindly to fighting. Your aid in the defense of the temple would be appreciated. And,” he added, almost as an afterthought, “I can locate Yeon-il Song for you if you wish.”

“Wait,” Moira interjected, “How did you know we were searching for the fox?”

“He has a daughter, does he not? She is under your care, is she not? It is only natural that you would eventually come out here in search of him.”

Fareeha stepped in front of Moira, smartphone ready with a message. _We’ll help you. What are we going up against?_

Moira caught the Guardian’s arm, hands moving to form signs. _Fareeha, wait-_

 _No,_ the other woman replied. _We cannot stand by and let these people die. You know that as well as I do._

_But that’s not our primary objective._

Fareeha caught Moira’s hands in her own. _Does it matter?_

* * *

Brigitte was already waiting with Lena and Emily at the front gate when Hana arrived, Lucio and Rat in tow. Zarya and Mei had opted to stay behind, not particularly wanting to get caught. The sun was just beginning to set, and most of the students were finishing up dinner at the cafeteria. 

Rat knelt down, pulling a small lock-picking kit out of his pockets. He unlocked the side gate, and the group darted out into the town, walking quickly toward the movie theater. Hana turned to Lena. “What time does it start again?”

The shorter girl looked at her watch. “18:30. We have 15 minutes.”

Rat groaned. “Lena, mate, y’know I don’t do that fancy military time or whatever.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “You’ll know when it starts.”

Hana smiled as Rat and Lena continued to argue over the conventionality of military time, and she looked to the side to see Lucio with a slight smile on his face as well. She elbowed him gently. “Aren’t you glad you decided to stop being a recluse?”

He laughed. “I wasn’t a _recluse,_ per se. Just… antisocial. Y’know, a friend of mine would always tell me to ‘take off the damn headphones and listen to the music of others’ voices.’ I’m beginning to think that maybe it isn’t as bad as I feared it would be.”

They continued walking in comfortable silence until they reached the theater, Lena cutting off her argument with Rat to buy their tickets.

Five minutes later, the movie started, and Hana, startled by the sudden noise of the opening sequence, nearly jumped out of her seat. Lucio put a comforting arm around her, which prompted a teasing poke from Brigitte, sitting on Hana’s other side. She glared at her friend again, but eventually turned back to watch the movie. 

Neither she nor Lucio noticed his arm was still wrapped around her.

* * *

The past few hours had been spent fortifying the temple wall and evacuating any of the monks who were unwilling to fight, which was, unsurprisingly, a vast majority of them. At the end, Genji and Zenyatta were left with the four newcomers and a handful of brave defendants. 

Fareeha had shed her disguise and stood at the ready, and Moira was briefly reminded of her service in Eichenwalde’s royal guard in her previous life. Hanzo was already on the roof of the building with his bow and a surplus of arrows, while Genji and McCree prepared for more close quarters combat. Moira herself was stationed near the back lines with Zenyatta, her healing magics at the ready. The night was deathly silent, broken only by the occasional rustle of wind through the trees. Zenyatta, much to Moira’s surprise, turned to the banshee and spoke.

“Hanzo still feels guilt for what he did to Genji.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” Moira replied, “I suppose he does. Can you blame him?”

The monk shook his head. “I do not. However, this guilt and pain he has bore for centuries is wearing him down, no matter how hard he tries to suppress it.”

“As it would anyone.”

“Yes. Genji, however, has come to terms with the events of the past and has learned to move on, albeit not without my guidance. He has forgiven Hanzo.”

“That, I don’t understand. How could Genji forgive his own brother, who tried to kill him because of some bullshit family rules?”

“I do not know. All I know is that he has indeed forgiven his brother. The only thing left for them to move on is for Hanzo to forgive himself, no?”

Moira had no chance to answer, as McCree’s howl sounded throughout the temple grounds, echoing off buildings. The signal. 

Moira rose to her feet to get an estimate of the enemy’s numbers and their composition. Her eyes widened in surprise as she got a good look at their adversary.

“Two people?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lucio and hana are hopelessly in love but also hella oblivious lel
> 
> Edit from like 4 hours later: Thank you, solarbird, for pointing out a mistake near the end


	11. how to defend a cult of pacifist monks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six Mythicals attempt to recreate the Alamo.  
> Alternative title: “how to stop my ex-BFF from eradicating the cult that saved my not-boyfriend’s brother”

Jesse McCree was not having a good day. 

He had been woken up at the crack of dawn to travel through wind and snow to a vegetarian monastery, and while vegetarians and monasteries were usually bearable at best, a combination of the two was likely on his list of Most Hated Places on this Blasted Planet. Furthermore, one of the people traveling with him was Moira fuckin’ O’Deorain, that god-awful banshee he had hoped never to see again. The cherry on top, however, was the woman standing in front of him, backed by a large, muscular man easily three or four heads taller than the werewolf. McCree dropped his cigar, snuffing it under his foot as he approached the pair.

“Ashe. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Cut the crap, McCree.” The woman reached for the rifle slung across her back, bullets already in the chamber. “You knew I was comin’ for a while.”

“Yeah, guess so,” McCree replied, readying his hand on his revolver. “Was hopin’ it wouldn’t be you, though.”

Ashe signaled with a hand, and the man next to her dropped his disguise, revealing a skin covered in rocky plates. Red-orange light seeped through the gaps, much like Fareeha’s armor. He adopted a fighting stance, as if preparing to charge the man in front of him. 

“You’re not our target, McCree. You are, however, still on the Hunters’ list for… termination.” Ashe raised her rifle, pointing it in between the werewolf’s eyes. “I’ve been lookin’ for you for quite a while, you mangy mutt.”

“Guess there’s no chance we can solve this peacefully, then?” McCree rolled backwards as Ashe fired, transforming into his Werewolf-form as Fareeha moved in between him and the two Hunters. Raising his head, he gathered breath in his lungs and released a howl, signalling to the rest of the defenders. 

Turning back to Fareeha, he saw her locked in combat with the golem, going toe-to-toe with her larger foe. Ashe was nowhere to be seen. Noting that Fareeha likely had that situation under control, he darted back towards where Moira and Zenyatta were stationed. The banshee glanced quizzically at him. “Jesse? Who are they?”

“Ashe and Bob. She’s a sorcerer, he’s a golem. And if they’re here, the Deadlocks won’t be far behind.”

“Who?”

“The Deadlocks. They’re a pack of demons under Ashe’s control. She can summon them to this world whenever she chooses, but I assume she’s saving her mana for when the fight gets dirty.”

A rifle shot sounded from above, and a monk not far from the trio fell, grasping his shoulder in pain. Jesse turned his eyes upward, scanning the rooftops. Nodding to Zen and Moira to take care of the injured monk, he bounded across the temple grounds, leaping up to a nearby rooftop and taking chase after the sorcerer. 

Ashe, having seen McCree’s advance, turned to flee in the opposite direction, knowing she couldn’t take the werewolf in a close-quarters fight. A faint whistle sounded from behind her, and she instinctively ducked, an arrow embedding itself in the tile, its trajectory bringing it where her head would have been. She took aim with her rifle again, seeing the bowman perched atop the bell tower, and fired a few shots before being bowled over by McCree, the both of them landing on the hard packed dirt on the ground. Ashe rolled out of the werewolf’s reach and landed a bullet in his flank, provoking a roar of pain. 

Up in the bell tower, Hanzo winced in pain as his claws pulled a bullet out of his shoulder. Two of Ashe’s shots had missed their mark, but the third had lodged itself firmly in the bone, the silver inside causing waves of pain to shoot through his body. He scanned the temple grounds. Genji and Fareeha were locked in battle with the golem, and McCree was engaged in combat with the sorceress, although she appeared to have the upper hand, having drawn first blood. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he nocked another arrow and took aim. 

An arrowhead buried itself in Ashe’s thigh, the sharp pain causing a lapse in her concentration, allowing McCree to land a solid hit across her chest. With her good leg, she again leapt backward, using a small shotgun, her Coach Gun, to propel herself upward, back onto the roof. Rolling to the side to avoid another arrow, she began gathering mana, manifesting it as an orange glow between her fingertips. McCree ran towards her, but was not quite fast enough, as Ashe slammed her hands into the rooftop, chanting a few words in some sort of demonic language. 

The ground rumbled as Ashe’s Deadlock demons began to appear, clawing their way out of the packed dirt. McCree sprang back as a pike thrust its way upwards where he had been standing, followed by the demon wielding it. Shifting back into his human form, he drew his revolver, firing three shots into approaching demons as he retreated toward the bell tower. 

Fareeha turned to look at the demons, and Bob seized the opportunity to land a powerful punch on the side of her helmet, sending her flying across the compound. Genji backflipped out of the golem’s reach and ran toward the Guardian, slicing a demon in half with his blade as he reached her. 

“Fareeha. Your armor… how long will it hold?”

She shrugged in reply, and stood, leaping into the air and taking flight. Pulling her rocket launcher off her back, she began raining explosives down onto the quickly growing crowd of demons. Genji, seeing that the Guardian was alright, re-engaged with the golem, but began to find that he was overwhelmed in terms of physical strength. His sword and  _ shuriken _ were unable to do any substantial damage to the rock plating, and he lacked the raw strength and brawn that the golem possessed. Deciding to retreat for now, he scaled the wall of the temple, surveying the battlefield before him. 

The few monks who had remained behind to defend fought valiantly, but found themselves overwhelmed by the horde that had appeared from nowhere. Moira and Zenyatta fought back-to-back, trying their best to reach and heal any of those injured, but eventually had to devote more of their energy to fighting off the demons. Hanzo and McCree were up in the bell tower, his brother with his bow and McCree with his revolver, picking off any demons who came close while also trading shots with Ashe. He could tell, however, that many of his companions were low on energy, and while they weren’t doing a bad job of cutting down the swaths of demons that appeared, they would quickly tire before the job was done. He shook his head and dashed back into the fray, drawing his Dragonblade with a cry.

Moira’s Grasp drained yet another demon of its life force, coalescing it into an orb that she sent out to damage many more. Zenyatta, on her flank, threw his projectiles with lightning speed and deadly accuracy, and between the two of them they began to clear out an area. Moira glanced back at the monk. 

“I take back what I said, about there being only two people.”

“Taking back your words will not help us now, banshee.” Zenyatta sent another barrage of glowing orbs into the approaching crowd. “I fear this battle will not be easily won for us.”

Moira dodged a spear thrust while her companion finished the demon off with a powerful kick to the head. She activated her Fade, reappearing on top of one of the nearby buildings and drawing in a breath. “Monk, you might want to cover your ears.”

Moira couldn’t remember the last time she had used her Scream, but it came back to her as if she’d been using it almost every day in the centuries that had passed. The wave of sound passed over the battlefield, killing any demons unfortunate enough to be close to her, and immobilizing countless others. McCree and Hanzo felt its effects as far away as they were, wincing as a dull pain passed through their heads, and Genji stopped to catch his balance as vertigo momentarily overtook him. Fareeha and the Golem remained unaffected, being the dead beings without physical ears that they were. Ashe was nowhere to be seen, although Moira assumed she was feeling its effects as well. Moira sank to her knees in fatigue, preparing to gather energy for another blast, but was alerted by Zenyatta’s hand on her shoulder. 

“They are recovering, O’Deorain. You’ve bought us some time, I suggest we regroup with the others.” 

The banshee nodded and Faded toward the bell tower, the monk in her wake. Genji signalled to Fareeha, and shortly after, the six defenders were gathered in the bell tower, Moira tending to Hanzo’s wounded shoulder as McCree attempted to clear the ringing in his ears.

“Did ya really have to do that, banshee? Y’know I got sensitive hearing.” He stuck his head over the railing again, scouting the battlefield. “They’re gettin’ back up. I hope y’all got another ace up your sleeves like that one.”

* * *

As the remnants of Moira’s scream echoed off the surrounding mountains, a black-haired man grumbled from within a cave set into the rock, rubbing his head. 

“The best sleep I’ve had in years and I get woken up by a  _ banshee _ , of all things…” 

Leaving the cave, the man set off toward the source of the sound, golden eyes as bright as fire illuminating his path. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i originally had chapter 11 and 12 in the same chapter, but it was really long in comparison to the other chapters (and I'm not done writing the end yet) so i decided to post this now and the other half tomorrow as separate chapters cause i'm lazy and dont feel like doing any more writing today


	12. how to appear in style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeon is not a morning person.  
> Alternative title: “how to remember to lock the bathroom door next time”

A pounding headache shot through Hana’s skull, and she winced. Lucio, sitting next to her, recoiled in shock at the sudden movement. 

“Hey, Hana, you okay?”

Hana nodded, although her insides felt as if they were going to eat their way out of her stomach.

“Yeah, I think I just need to go to the bathroom.”

* * *

Genji sliced through another demon before being nicked in the shoulder with a halberd. “Banshee, if you have another one of those air horns, you’d better use it now!”

“I don’t have enough energy to do another one so soon,” Moira yelled in reply. “You’ll have to hold out a little longer.”

“We don’t have a little longer,” Hanzo shouted. He peeked over the railing, fired an arrow, and ducked under again. Ashe, still on the rooftop, fired off a shot, just barely missing Hanzo’s head. Fareeha and McCree were facing Bob, who rained blows on the pair with his stone fists. Zenyatta floated nearby, picking off any demons who came close to them. Moira clenched her jaw. Her Scream had bought the group a bit of time, but what was time when no one was coming to save them? The Deadlock demons were less in number than they had been a few minutes ago, but their numbers weren’t decreasing fast enough. She could tell the defenders would tire faster than the demons would be wiped out, and they still had the sorceress and the golem to deal with. Her smartphone buzzed inside her coat.  _ My smartphone? Miracle it survived this long. _ Fading up to the bell tower, she checked the screen and saw Angela’s caller ID. Her thumb hesitated over the green button. 

“Pick up.” Hanzo gazed at Moira with resolute eyes. “If we die here, it’ll be something you won’t regret.”

Moira nodded, lifting the phone to her ear. “Angela-

_ “Moira! I detected a being with massive energy levels heading towards your location!” _

“What? No, Angela, listen, I’m-”

_ “There’s no time! It’s heading right for you, and traveling fast. Knowing you, it’s probably angry.” _

* * *

Hana retched into the toilet, leaning against the bathroom wall for balance. Her head swam. A strangely familiar energy coursed through her, although she had never encountered it before and had no idea what it was. Her vision flashed, and for a moment she was moving through a snowy mountain range, as if stuck inside another body.  _ Who…? _

Pain lanced through her head again, and she leaned her head down, white hair falling around her face.  _ Wait, white hair?  _

Hana looked at her hands, and found claws beginning to peek their way out from underneath the skin. She could feel the shift in her tailbone, indicating her tails would come out as well.  _ My shift? I haven’t lost control since- _

The vision returned again. She, or rather, whoever’s body she was trapped in, was standing on a cliff, overlooking what appeared to be a monastery. Her body leapt off, plummeting downwards, and Hana snapped back to her own consciousness, the feeling of nausea returning. She closed her eyes, attempting to get her Shift under control, but to no avail, as the energy she had felt before proved to be impossible to control. A knock on the door sounded.

“Hana?”  _ Shit. _

Brigitte knocked again. “Hana? You good?”

_ No, don’t come in don’t come in don’t come in- _

“I’m coming in, Hana.”

Hana shot up from where she was leaning against the wall, realizing she had forgotten to lock the door. “No, don’t-”

The handle began to turn.

* * *

_ “...Moira? What happened?”  _

Everything Moira saw was engulfed in fire. “Angela… I’ll call you back later.” 

She and Hanzo were safe up in the tower, and Jesse and Genji had been shielded by Zenyatta’s Transcendence, but the entire compound had been set ablaze, the screams of the remaining demons echoing off the stone walls as they returned to the ashes from whence they came. Then, to her surprise, every one of those fires was extinguished, as if they had never come to life in the first place. When the smoke cleared, a single figure stood alone in the courtyard, the gargantuan figure of the golem pinned underneath a single foot. Long black hair, tied back in a ponytail, fluttered lightly in the breeze. Piercing golden eyes stared down at the golem as he struggled to free himself. What was most notable, however, were the nine flaming tails that trailed behind him.

Yeon-il Song, one of two remaining  _ Kumiho _ and the source of all of Moira’s inconveniences from the last fourteen years, turned his gaze toward the banshee in the bell tower. 

“Next time you use that damned Scream, banshee, do take note of the area’s inhabitants.”

* * *

“Hana, what’s going on?” Brigitte strained against the door, Hana using her inhuman strength to hold it closed from the inside. “Are you alright? Open the door!”

“Brig, I’m fine, I swear,” Hana replied. “Just- just give me a moment.” 

She needed more than a moment, however, as her Shift was out of control, and she was unable to rein it in. She closed her eyes, and was back in the mountains, now standing in the temple she had been looking over a few seconds ago, and staring at… Moira? Flames crept into the edges of her vision, and she took note of various other figures scattered around the courtyard. A man dressed as a cowboy, two  _ oni _ , and a strangely-dressed floating being. The glint of Fareeha’s armor caught her eye as the Guardian landed nearby. 

_ Wait. Moira and Fareeha were looking for someone- my father? Did they find him? Am I in his body right now? _

Her thoughts were interrupted as she spoke.

“O’Deorain.”

Moira narrowed her eyes. “Yeon.”

_ Yeon? So he is my father. _

“What kind of trouble are you causing all the way out here?”

“Looking for you, actually.”

Hana, or rather, Yeon, let out a soft  _ hmph. _ “You want me to meet my daughter.”

_ He knows about me!? _

“Yes. In fact, all this ruckus you’ve caused has probably strained her control over her Shift. It’s likely that she’s having issues with it right now, no thanks to you.”

_ I’m… connected to my dad somehow? Is that why I can’t Shift back? _ Hana remembered Angela saying something about familial connections and how the energy of one could influence the other, but she couldn’t remember exactly  _ what  _ the Witch had said, a detail that unfortunately seemed very relevant right now. 

Yeon snorted. “She can’t tune out my energy, even when I’m halfway across the-”

Hana was jolted from her vision as Brigitte renewed her assault on the door. “Hana! Open the door, please! We- I just want to know if you’re okay!”

Hana shoved harder against the other side, closing her eyes again and trying to pull her human form out of the bag she envisioned. The crushing energy from before had begun to subside, and Hana reached deep inside, grasping her human form and pulling as hard as she could. A mistake, as her concentration shifted away from holding the door closed. The door was opened a bit as Brigitte began to gain leverage. 

Another weight leaned on the door. “Hana? C’mon, man. We’re just checking up on you.”

_ Lucio? No he can’t see me like this goddamn my stupid dad it’ll ruin everything he’ll hate me we won’t be friends anymore and I’ll never be able to tell him- _

The door burst open, sending Hana tumbling across the tile floor of the bathroom.

* * *

A metal finger poked into Yeon’s chest. Fareeha began signing furiously, Moira translating. 

_ The only reason she doesn’t have complete control over her Shift and doesn’t know what’s going on is because of YOU, you fox-faced bastard. She’s had to grow up without a father and without one of her own kind to nurture and guide her, all because you thought sending a woman across Asia alone with an infant would be of more convenience to you. If that isn’t selfish, I don’t know what the hell is.  _

Yeon’s hands tightened into fists, and he pressed down harder on the golem’s chest, beginning to crack the stone. “What would you know about me, Amari? What would you know about what was happening back then? If you knew what was going on, tell me,  _ what would you have done? _ ”

Moira’s eyebrows furrowed in concern, watching Fareeha grow more and more agitated. The Guardian raised her hands to respond, but Moira placed a gentle hand on her gauntlet, turning to Yeon. 

“Fox. What Fareeha is trying to get across is, well, what you put Jin-Ae and Hana through is something no one should have to endure. It’s about time you made up for that.”

“There’s nothing I need to say to the girl. She’s in her teens now, if I remember correctly, and I doubt she’d want me to show up in her life after so long. I-”

Their argument was interrupted by Zenyatta, who cleared his throat rather loudly. “Is it possible for you two to do your bickering later? In case you’d forgotten, we have a sorceress to take care of.” He gestured toward the unconscious Ashe, currently slung over McCree’s shoulder. 

Moira nodded. “Just a minute, monk.” She looked Yeon in the eye, red and blue against pure golden. “Yeon… she  _ wants _ to meet you.”

The man’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, and he nodded curtly. “I will… think about it.”

* * *

Hana rubbed her forehead from where she had hit it on the door when it swung open. A quick examination of her hands revealed that she had been able to force her claws back in, as well as her tails, she felt, but when she looked up, Brigitte and Lucio were staring at her, eyes wide in surprise.  _ Oh no.  _

Her hair, or what she could see of it, was still white, and she assumed her eyes were still orange and slitted, as her current field of vision suggested. “Uh… hi?”

Brigitte stared at Hana for a few awkward moments more, and Lucio cleared his throat, blinking and rubbing his eyes as if he were hallucinating.

“Guys, listen, I can explain-”

She was cut off as the door banged open again, followed by Rat and Lena, the former of which stopped in his tracks, more out of surprise than anything. 

“Alright, does someone want ta tell me exactly what the  _ fuck  _ is happening ‘ere?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oop  
> ALSO yes i do plan on drawing Yeon and Hana eventually but im lazy okay shhhh


	13. how to come out to your friends (but not in the way that you think)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cat (or rather, fox) is out of the bag, in more ways than one. Rat has trust issues. Zenyatta spits straight fax.

“I… can explain?” Hana let out a nervous laugh. Rat frowned. 

“What the hell is this, Hana? Ya were hidin’ some sorta monster in ya like in those old movies or somethin’? And- and ya decided it was best not ta tell us? We’re yer friends, for-”

“It- it’s not something I had the option to tell you!” Hana protested. “If this-” -she gestured to her hair and eyes- “-got out, it would-”

“If this, if that, whatever! How am I s’posed ta  _ trust  _ you knowing that you’re actually- _ ” _

Lena shoved the taller boy to the side. “Okay, people, let’s all, uh, calm down a bit, yeah? So Hana’s not exactly normal and she has white hair and weird eyes now. So what? She’s still our friend, right?” The brown-haired girl turned and glared pointedly at Rat. “Right?”

“Look ‘ere, Lena, I can’t just-”

“You can and you will,” Lena replied, looking Rat in the eye as much as she could with her short stature. “Hana here is still the same Hana. Am I wrong?”

Hana looked up. “Me? I guess so, I mean, my personality… I wasn’t hiding that from you, if that’s what you’re asking. I guess,” she added, as an afterthought.

Rat stared at Hana for a couple moments more. “I, uh… I need a couple days.” Turning on his heel, he stalked out of the bathroom. 

Lena and Emily made to chase him down, but Hana held them back. “No, wait. It’s okay. I know this is a shocking revelation for you guys.” 

“It sure is,” Brigitte said, speaking for the first time since she had burst into the bathroom. “Hana, I… I’m sorry I tried to open it. I should have just listened to you.” She placed a comforting hand on Hana’s back. 

The group sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, until Hana spoke up again. 

“I guess my secret’s out now. But, I have to tell you something. Please, promise me you won’t tell anyone. It’s for my safety and the safety of my moms.”

Lena nodded. “Yeah, Hana. It’s the least we can do, love.” She checked her watch. “We should, uh, get back to the school. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

Hana nodded, concentrating for a moment to bring the rest of her Mythical features back within her, replacing her white hair and amber eyes with their usual brown shades. “...yeah. Let’s go.”

* * *

Yeon wandered aimlessly through the halls of the monastery, lost in thought.  _ Hana… She’s fourteen now. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?  _ He chuckled to himself. A while from the human perspective, perhaps. His mind wandered, and he found himself thinking of the woman who had him captivated back then, the way she walked, the way she laughed, the way she smiled, the way she had treated him, as if he was not the monster everyone else thought he was.  _ Jin.... _

He’d left her, that part the Guardian hadn’t been wrong about. He was wrong to leave her, another truth. The reason why, however, had been something he had been ashamed of ever since that day. 

He felt a presence approaching him, and turned to see the monk, Zenyatta, floating towards him, silent save for the quiet hum of his aura. “May I join you?”

The fox nodded, and the pair continued through the hallways in silence, until Yeon spoke. 

“Why are you here, monk?”

“I have been at the monastery for many years, Yeon. It is this place that has helped me find my peace, and in turn, my being here has helped Genji as well. It is only natural that my purpose is to remain here.”

“You know that is not what I mean.”

“I do.”

“Then why are you here? As in, here walking with me?” Yeon stopped at a doorway, exiting the temple out into the courtyard. Finding a bench that had survived the chaos of the previous night, he sat, cross-legged, the monk hovering in front of him.

“You are troubled, are you not?”

“No shit.”

“You do not know whether to face Hana Song or to run away and hide as you have been doing ever since Jin-Ae’s death.”

Yeon surged upwards, grabbing the monk’s robe. “You call me a  _ coward?  _ You dare accuse me of  _ running  _ and  _ hiding _ after the death of the only woman I have ever loved? Tell me, what would you have done?  _ What would you have done _ ?”

Zenyatta did not attempt to free himself from Yeon’s grasp, instead opting to stare calmly into the man’s eyes. “That is the truth, is it not? Call it what you want to, but the fact remains.” As per his suspicion, Yeon’s grip loosened, and Zenyatta placed a hand on his shoulder. “You blame yourself for her death.”

“Who else would be to blame?”

“Hanzo blames himself for Genji’s transformation and the pain he has suffered over the last century.”

“And? Hanzo isn’t at fault. I, however, led Jin to her death. It was me who  _ told _ her to seek out Angela Ziegler.”

“You and Hanzo are quite similar, in the sense that you both are torturing yourselves over the events of the past. The past is set in stone. You cannot change it, no matter how much you agonize over it.” Zenyatta’s other hand swept out, gesturing to the ruined courtyard. “The temple suffered much damage from the sorceress’s attack. That is an indisputable fact and no amount of grieving will change that.

“However,” the monk continued, moving over to the husk of a burnt tree, “The future of the temple has not been predetermined.” Reaching a hand into the remains of the trunk, he showed Yeon a small insect, crawling about the metal of Zenyatta’s hand. “Life still blooms, does it not?”

Yeon let out a small grunt of acknowledgement, and Zenyatta took it as a sign to continue. “The future, it is malleable. A blank sheet of paper, and you have the power to decide what to draw on it. Jin-Ae’s death is fourteen years past, but her daughter,  _ your  _ daughter _ ,  _ is still very much alive.”

Yeon laughed softly. “Unfortunately, monk, I’m a terrible artist.”

* * *

Hana woke up to Brigitte’s alarm, grumbling as she rolled out of bed. Dragging herself over to the bathroom, she prepared to head down to breakfast when Brigitte’s voice stopped her. 

“Hana?”

The events of the previous night came rushing back, and Hana whirled around in fear. The look on her friend’s face, however, was not one of disgust, but of concern. 

“You okay?”

“Does it look like I’m okay?” Hana sank down against the wall, burying her face in her hands. “Last night, I- I screwed up big. My Mythical form was the one thing above everything I should have kept hidden, and I-” Hana failed to stop tears, both from anger and sadness, from falling down her face.

Brigitte sat down next to Hana, pulling the smaller girl into a hug. “It’s okay, Hana. We’re cool with it, or at least, most of us are. Rat will come around eventually, he always does. It’s just that he doesn’t take kindly to change.” 

Hana looked up, wiping her face with the sleeves of her pajamas. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’ve been friends with the gang for years. They won’t cut you off just ‘cause you’re different, y’know? I remember back in our first year, when Lena was having trouble dealing with her feelings for Em. She wasn’t sure if we’d take kindly to it, took her a while to open up to us about anything back then.”

“Brig-”

“I know, coming out as gay isn’t exactly the same as telling your friends you’re a furry in disguise. But it’s the same concept, I think-- you just gotta explain it to them and they’ll understand.”

Hana laughed. “That’s not exactly what it is, but I guess I get your point.” 

Breakfast was a quiet affair. Even Lena, who normally would have been talking the ears off everyone in the near vicinity, said very little. Rat, to no one’s surprise, was absent, sitting alone at a table on the other side of the cafeteria. This made it even harder for Hana to speak up, but Brigitte’s comforting presence next to her, as well as Lucio’s kind glance from across the table, helped settle her nerves. After finishing her breakfast, she cleared her throat. Every head at the table swiveled to face her, bringing back the nervousness and fear from earlier that morning, but she shoved it down and continued. 

“Um, I guess I have a lot to talk about. I’ll, uh, meet you all in mine and Brig’s room in five minutes, ‘kay?”

“Yeah,” Lena replied with a smile. Lucio flashed a thumbs-up, and Hana’s fears settled.  _ Maybe everything will be okay. _

Six and a half minutes later, Hana closed and locked the door to the room shared by her and Brigitte, ensuring that they would have no unwelcome guests. Class was due to start in half an hour, giving her ample time to tell her story.

She explained everything to her friends, starting with her mother’s journey across Asia to find Angela, moving on to the circumstances that had brought her three guardians together, and her childhood, growing up with three Mythical parents, learning sign language, controlling her Shift, and everything else she felt was necessary to add. She answered their questions to her best ability, talking about her magic, her  _ Kumiho _ abilities, and everything in between. 

When Hana had finished and the questions died down, the group was silent for a while. Finally, Lena, to no one’s surprise, spoke. “So, we all understand why Hana didn’t tell us, right?” 

The group nodded in unison, and Lena grinned, embracing Hana in a hug. Emily soon followed, along with Mei and Brigitte, with Zarya nearly scooping them all up with a hearty laugh, and they all collapsed into a pile on the floor.

After everyone’s giggles had settled and they had straightened out, Hana looked around the room at her friends, the people she had just revealed her biggest secret to, and the people who had accepted her for who she was. 

“Uh, thanks, guys. This, well, this really means a lot to me, more than you think. I’ve never really, well, told anyone any of this before. And I guess it feels nice to share it with people who won’t judge me for it.”

Across the room, Lucio smiled with the rest of them, but inside, his mental gears were turning madly.  _ Hana is a Mythical?  _ He pulled out his phone, quietly excusing himself before leaving the room.

Hana watched the boy leave, closing the door behind him. The look on his face when she had told her story had been unreadable. If he was surprised, he hadn’t shown it. She turned to Brigitte, elbowing her gently. 

“D’you think Lucio’s been acting a little weird today?”

“Nah, we’re all surprised after this bomb you dropped. Maybe he’s just having a little more trouble processing it.”

Hana’s face momentarily twisted into confusion, but she shook her head and shrugged. 

“Yeah, that must be it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what happened with McCree and Ashe after the end of chapter 12: [ things we lost and found again ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28095423)
> 
> also: designs for [Rat](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/326108056377360387/788210672348823602/sketch-1607994432010.png) and [Yeon](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/326108056377360387/788210672793681951/sketch-1607994344354.png)


	14. how to talk about your problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucio has a crisis. Lena can be very aggressive about friendships when she wants to be.

Exiting Hana’s room and quickly walking down the hallway, Lucio scrolled through his contacts until he found the name he was looking for. Raising the phone to his ear, he opened the door to his room, and, relieved to find that it was empty, sat down on the edge of the bed as the person on the other end picked up.

_ “Lucio? What do you need?” _

“Hi, Akande.”

_ “I don’t have time for a social call, boy. Spit it out.” _

Lucio rolled his eyes, but continued on. “First of all, I’m fifteen, not a boy anymore. Second of all, I thought there was only one  _ Kumiho _ left. Yeon- whatever his name is.”

The other man laughed.  _ “Ha! When you’ve lived your first century, come back to me and then we can talk about how I address you,  _ **_boy._ ** _ ”  _ The line was silent for a few moments, then Akande took in an audible breath. 

_ “Yeon has a daughter. She’s under the care of the Witch, Angela Ziegler, the Guardian, Fareeha Amari, and the Banshee, Moira O’Deorain. We’re not supposed to know about her, but Sombra can be a bit loose-lipped when she wants to.”  _ A pause, presumably to allow Lucio the time to digest that information.  _ “Why do you ask?” _

“She goes to my  _ school.” _

A grunt, then momentary silence.  _ “I assume she revealed herself by accident?” _

“Yeah.”

_ “We felt the Fox’s energy here as well. First time he’s released this much energy in over half a century. I assumed it would have reached the child as well. If you need advice on how to deal with this situation, however, I’m not the one to ask. I haven’t been around many others in quite a while, you would be much better off asking Jean-Baptiste Augustin about whether you should reveal yourself to her.” _

The door to the dorm opened, and Rat walked in, dragging himself into the bathroom without so much as a second glance at his roommate. Lucio excused himself from his conversation with Akande and bid the man goodbye, then lay back on his bed. 

Hana was a Mythical, part of a waning race kept hidden from the human eye. Her father’s actions had caused her to reveal herself, to teenage humans no less, which, had they been any other group, would have caused catastrophe for both the human and Mythical worlds. He trusted their friends to keep Hana’s secret and had seen the weight lifted off her when she had told them.  _ Would they do the same with me? _

The other issue was, of course, his roommate. Rat’s reaction to Hana’s secret had hurt the girl, that he was sure of. If he revealed himself to the group as well, the Australian boy’s reaction would likely be even worse. 

_ I want to tell Hana. I want her to know that I’m in the same boat as her, that I have been for my whole life. I want her to know that I’ve also been carrying this huge secret on my back, and that I want to share it with her. I want her to know that she’s not alone.  _ His thoughts continued on, rambling such that the logical part of his mind wasn’t quite able to keep up.  _ I should also explain that time in the music store. I mean, my music- I forgot sometimes I have that effect on people because I’m a- _

“Hey, Lucio?”

Lucio jolted out of his thoughts to see Rat hanging over the edge of the top bunk, staring at him and waving a hand in his face. He had left the bathroom a while ago, it seemed, and Lucio hadn’t even noticed. “Wha- yeah?”

“Y’ looked a bit spacey there. You okay?”

It wasn’t unlike Rat to care about his friends, but Lucio couldn’t recall the boy ever asking him if he was okay. Something was bothering him, and Lucio figured he knew what it was. “Are  _ you _ okay, Jamie?”

Rat sighed and swung over the edge of the top bunk, sitting next to Lucio. “I just- I dunno what to think about Hana.”

“She’s still the same Hana you know. She’s just…”

“Just got tails and weird eyes. Yeah, I know. I know I overreacted last night and I wanna make it up to her, but I…”

“You’re not good at apologising.”

“Yeah, that’s it. I ain’t good at apologisin’. And I dunno if I can get it across that I’m genuinely sorry for last night, y’know?”

“I think you just gotta go for it. You won’t get anywhere by sulking around.”

“Yeah, I s’pose so.” Rat stood up, gathering his books off the desk and shoving them haphazardly into his bag, as he usually did. “Thanks, Lucio.”

Lucio nodded and began packing his own bag, mind drifting once more. Maybe, just maybe, if he revealed himself- no,  _ when _ he revealed himself, everything would be okay.

* * *

Winston’s class was rather quiet, but with Rat being the only person in the class Hana was particularly familiar with, she felt a certain tension in the air. She had looked over at his desk multiple times, knowing he was also watching her, but the boy avoided eye contact and instead focused on his notebook, inside of which were most likely not the notes the professor up front was telling the class to take. Hana returned to her own notes, drawing patterns on the edges of the paper as she lapsed into thought. While she had initially told herself not to be bothered by Rat’s reactions to her  _ Kumiho _ form, she began to second guess her resolutions as the class drew on. Glancing up at the board and noting that Professor Winston was still busy writing away, she pulled her phone out of her bag, rereading the text Brigitte had sent her earlier in the period.

**b.lindholm15:** tbh just go up and say hi

**b.lindholm15:** knowing him hes prob over it already but ig hes too scared to talk to u first

Hana looked over at Rat once more. He was still staring straight down at his notebook, pencil scribbling aimlessly on the paper. Sighing, she scrolled back through her contacts, finding Rat, and began to type a message.

**hananafish:** hey jamie

**hananafish:** i know you probably dont want to talk to me right now, but if you can, id like you to meet me in the common room at 4

**hananafish:** i would say “i need to talk to you about something” but i think we both know what that something is

The “read” indicator popped up almost instantly, and Hana looked over at Rat to see him staring at her as well. A few things flashed through his eyes as he considered what she had sent him. Confusion? Anger? Hurt? She couldn’t tell.  _ Was I too upfront about it? Is he not ready to talk to me? _

Despite her fears, however, Rat slowly nodded his head once, up and down, his way of letting Hana know her message had been received and taken into consideration.  _ It’s a start, at least. _

* * *

“...And then Jesus looks at the woman, and he says, ‘Dammit, mom, I’m trying to prove a point here!’” Lena lowered her voice in what was supposed to be an impression of Jesus, but due to the natural pitch of her voice, her attempt just made Brigitte laugh harder. As they rounded the corner, however, the pair found Rat sitting against the wall outside the common room, across from the closed door. He had a sullen expression on his face, and seemed unnaturally reserved for his usual character. Brigitte approached the boy, sitting next to him.

“You good?”

“Yeah, I guess. I just gotta do somethin’ that I’m not sure I know how to do.”

“Y’know, that’s very cryptic, love,” Lena chipped in from where she stood. “Any way we can help?”

“Dunno. See, Hana asked me to meet her ‘ere in a couple minutes so we could talk ‘n I dunno what to say.”

“What do you mean? Just say what’s on your mind,” Brigitte replied. Rat shook his head. 

“It ain’t that simple, Brig. I guess, last night I did a bit of… overreacting. An’ I figure I owe her an apology, at the very least.”

“Hell yeah, you do,” Lena said, squatting in front of Rat and staring him in the eyes. “And your problem is that you don’t know how to get your point across?”

“Well, yeah, I guess.”

“Sayin’ sorry ain’t that hard, Rat. It’s making it genuine, that's the hard part. Also, you won’t get anywhere if you jus’ sit out here and mope, luv.”

“Yeah, Lena, I know, but-”

The shorter girl frowned and stood up, looking down at Rat, who was still on the floor. For someone of her stature, she could be quite intimidating when she wanted to be.

“No buts, Jamison. You gotta go in there and talk to her, and bloody well mean what you say.” She jabbed a finger into the left side of his chest, where his heart beat. “If you’re gonna say something, which you are, it’s gotta come from here.”

* * *

Hana looked up from her homework when the door to the common room creaked open. To her surprise, Rat walked into the room and over to the table she sat at.

“Hana, d’you, uh, mind if I sit here?”

Hana nodded, and Rat pulled a chair out, turning it around and sitting in it backwards as he always did. He folded his arms on the top of the back of the chair and lay his chin on top. They sat for a while in a silence that was certainly awkward for Hana, although she wasn’t able to tell what the other boy was feeling. When it became obvious that he wasn’t going to initiate any conversation, she took a deep breath.

“So. About last night.”

“Yeah.” Rat seemed to slouch farther forward. 

“Can we… talk about it?”

“Yeah.” Rat paused, and when Hana moved to continue, he abruptly stopped her. “I’d, uh, like ta say somethin’ first. Ya just gotta give me a min’ though.” 

Hana nodded and Rat squeezed his eyes shut, burying his head in his folded arms. They lapsed back into silence for a few moments, until Rat worked up the courage to say what he had to say. 

“Hana, I know that y’ had yer reasons fer hidin’ yer… thing from us. And I’ve done my best to understand it, and I do know that it wasn’t exactly fair fer me t’ be that mad at you. An’ fer that… I’m sorry, I guess. And I’d like… I’d like to keep bein’ friends ‘cause yer a great person t’ have around an’ I really do appreciate you. 

“An’ I want you t’ know that I really do accept you fer who you are, even if you got, like, white hair and two tails or somethin’. And I’m sorry I overreacted like that, cause I have a tendency to get mad at people who try t’ hide things from me, y’know? They call it trust issues or somethin’.”

Hana nodded, smiling softly at Rat. “For what it’s worth, Rat, I’m really glad you came to talk to me today. My mom, Angie, she always says these conversations are the most important.”

He tilted his head in confusion. “Why?”

“‘Cause she says what we’re doing right now is finding a way to move on past our conflict.” Hana reached across the table, placing a gentle hand on Rat’s arm. “So, can we?”

“Yeah, I think so. Just… you ‘n me ‘n the rest of the gang, we’ve known each other for a while now. I just feel like secrets… they don’t really help anything, y’know?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“So, uh… are we cool now? No more secrets?” Rat looked expectantly at Hana, who smiled back and nodded.

“No more secrets.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so the last two chapters were kinda janky and definitely not my best writing lmao  
> no art this time i was too lazy to do anything but I'm working on genji and hanzo. been putting Hana off cause i have no idea how to female anatomy


	15. how to talk to your absentee father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family reunion none of us were waiting for.

The wind howled as it blew through the mountains, the snow swept up by the gale beating against the rock. Many of the animals in the area had long since gone into hibernation to wait out the worst of the winter, but one such creature remained awake and alert, hidden away in a small cave. Yeon sighed as he deposited what little wood he had gathered onto a shelf carved into the stone, collecting wood from a different pile of dry sticks and carefully placing them in the center of the cave. He set it ablaze with a snap of his fingers and leaned back against the opposite wall, closing his eyes and placing his hands in his pockets. His fingers brushed the scrap of paper that had sat there for two months, weighing heavy on his mind. 

**Two months ago**

Yeon knocked lightly on the doorframe of the room Moira was staying in, one of the few rooms that had miraculously survived the onslaught of fox-fire a few days earlier. The banshee had been packing her things when he arrived, and turned around at the sound of his knocking. 

“Can I help you?”

“You said she wants to see me.”

“She does.”

“How are you so certain?”

Moira scoffed. “Have a little faith, fox. I heard it from Angela, who heard it from the girl herself. She wouldn’t lie about that, you know. After all, it was us who raised her, not you.” 

Yeon glared at the woman, but decided it was not worth starting an argument. “I just don’t know if meeting her is good for either of us.”

“It might not be. But she’s your daughter, and if you cared at all about the woman you fucked and the daughter she bore, both of which you left to die, by the way, I do think it would be a healthy conversation to have.”

Yeon’s golden eyes flared with anger, and Moira felt the room begin to heat up. She kept a straight face as the man snarled at her, looking him back in the eye and refusing to budge. “You know I’m right, fox. Own up to your damn mistakes for once.” 

When he didn’t respond, she walked over to the desk, pulling out a sheet of paper and a pen. As she wrote, Yeon took a deep breath, reigning in his emotions and, Moira hoped, seeing the sense in her words, although she had to admit she had been a bit harsh. Turning back to the fox, she neatly folded the paper and handed it to him. “Angela’s address. Hana’s off for winter break in a couple months, around the holiday season. That’s your best time to meet her.”

**Present day**

Yeon’s eyes scanned over the letters on the paper again, written in Moira’s neat handwriting, as he had every night since he left the monastery.  _ Holiday season, huh?  _

If his memory served, Christmas had just passed, and the New Year was not far off. His window to visit Hana was narrowing, and narrowing fast. 

* * *

Hana reached into the cupboard for a bottle of Mountain Dew, only to be stopped by a metal gauntlet on her shoulder. She turned to see Fareeha standing behind her, shaking her head in a stern manner. 

“Aww, ‘Ree, please-”

Fareeha shook her head again.  _ Hana, it’s eight in the morning. _

“Well, yeah, but-”

_ N-O.  _ Fareeha turned back to the pancakes she had been making. Hana pouted.

“I bet you ever since I left, Moira’s been eating nothing but trash, so why can’t I? C’mon, ‘Ree, I’m on winter break.”

“ _ Moira _ is not a growing child with untapped potential, dear.” Angela’s footsteps sounded as she walked into the kitchen, planting a kiss on Fareeha’s helmet and helping herself to a cup of coffee. “She’s half a century old and is already a lost cause, as far as I’m concerned,” she added, raising her voice so the banshee in the basement could hear.

Moira shouted back in a string of Gaelic curses, prompting a laugh from the witch. Smiling, Hana snatched a pancake off the griddle and sat on the couch, pulling out her phone as she ate. Angela soon joined her, the rest of the pancakes in a neat pile on another plate. Perfectly made, as always with Fareeha’s cooking. She looked over Hana’s shoulder at the video Brigitte had sent of her cat, which Hana was watching on her phone. 

“Who’s that,  _ Schatzi?” _

Hana tilted the phone towards Angela to give her a better view. “Oh, him? That’s Gustav, Brigitte’s cat. And this-” she swiped over to another picture, this one of Brigitte herself, “-is Brigitte, my roommate. You’ve seen her in the back of our video calls sometimes.”

“Ah, yes I remember her.” Angela watched Hana scroll through her phone again, stopping every now and then to “like” a picture or two, a concept the witch was not quite familiar with. She had asked Hana in the past, but hadn’t understood it as well as she had hoped.

_ “What does this ‘like’ do, Hana?” _

_ “Well, uh, it shows that you saw their picture and like it, I guess.” _

_ “Couldn’t you just message them or whatever it is you do nowadays and tell them you like their picture?” _

_ “Yeah, I guess, but you don’t want to message  _ **_everyone_ ** _ whose picture you like.” _

_ “Why not? If you like their picture, shouldn’t you tell them?” _

_ Hana sighed. “No, ‘cause not everyone whose picture you like is, like, a friend of yours. I just follow these people cause they go to my school.” _

_ “Then why do you like their pictures?” _

_ Another sigh. “I just- you wouldn’t understand, Angie.” _

That conversation had just made Angela even more perplexed, but she came to the conclusion that if Hana was okay with it, it was not her place to intervene. She returned to her own breakfast, but a figure on the screen caught the corner of her eye, causing her to turn back.

“Hana, who was that?”

Hana paused her scrolling, and returned to a picture Rat had posted of his “famous” banana pizza. His guardian, Mako, stood in the background, facepalming. “Him? Oh, that’s Rat- or Jamie, he’s a bit…. peculiar.”

“No,” Angela replied, scrolling up one more to a picture of a brown-skinned boy in a green shirt. “Him.”

“Lucio?”

“What’s his full name?”

“Uhh…” Hana paused, thinking. “Lucio dos Santos, I think. His middle name starts with, like, a C or something. Why?”

Angela’s brow furrowed.  _ dos Santos… where have I heard that name before? _ She shrugged, resolving to ask Fareeha and Moira later. “Nothing,  _ Schatzi _ . I just thought he looked familiar, is all.”

They were prevented from further conversation when the doorbell rang out through the house. Moira grumbled as she dragged herself up the staircase leading to the basement, heading to the door. “It’s eight thirty in the morning, who could it be at this-” She froze as she opened the door to see the visitor, then smirked, getting over the initial surprise. “You actually came. I’m impressed.”

“What? Who is it?” Hana stood up, pocketing her phone and peeking around Moira. As soon as she made eye contact with the visitor, however, she knew who he was.

Yeon stared back at his daughter, golden eyes meeting brown, and watched the understanding dawn on her face. “Hello, Hana.”

* * *

**hananafish:** holy shit

**hananafish:** my dad just showed up at the door

**meiling.zhou:** I thought you did not have a dad?

**hananafish:** my bio dad. like the guy ive never met

**b.lindholm15:** the one with the fox powers or whatever?

**hananafish:** yeah

**hananafish:** i kinda freaked out and im hiding in the bathroom right now 

**b.lindholm15:** oof

**meiling.zhou:** Are you going to say anything to him?

**hananafish:** bruh what should i say

**meiling.zhou:** I think you should ask him what happened when he left you and your mother. Maybe that will give you some insight into his situation and help you two understand each other better.

**hananafish:** ya maybe

**hananafish:** thanks 

* * *

When Hana worked up the courage to leave the bathroom, she found Yeon sitting at the dining table with her three mothers, deep in conversation. Angela was nursing another cup of coffee and Fareeha sat at the far end, arms crossed. Moira sat next to Yeon, fingers steepled, with an unreadable expression on her face. Yeon also had a cup of coffee, taking small sips when he was not speaking. 

Fareeha was the first to notice Hana, and beckoned her over to the table. Nervously, Hana pulled out a chair next to the Guardian, eyeing her father warily. The conversation stopped abruptly as everyone in the room took note of Hana’s presence. 

Angela coughed and stood. “Well… it appears you two have some… catching up to do. I’ll leave you to it, then, I’ve got to go to the clinic.” Moira excused herself as well, but Hana caught Fareeha’s hand as she made to leave. 

“‘Ree… can you stay?”

The Guardian nodded, returning to her seat as Hana looked back at her father. His mouth curved slightly upward, as if he was trying to force a smile.    
“Hello, Hana.”

Hana remained silent, thoughts racing with everything she wanted to ask the man in front of her, unsure of what she should start with. Yeon continued.

“I understand you have questions. Ask anything you want and I will do my best to-”

“My mother.” Hana stared down at her lap.

Yeon stiffened. “What about her?”

“Why?” Hana could feel  _ something _ burning inside her, but could not pinpoint exactly what it was. Anger? Grief? Something along those lines. “Why would you send her out like that? Why would you send  _ me _ out like that?” Her voice rose as she spoke. “You knew no normal human could survive that trek on foot! You  _ knew _ , and you still made her do it!”

Yeon rose, slamming his hands on the table. “I didn’t  _ make  _ her do anything! She was the one that left-” 

He stopped mid-sentence, seeing Hana’s expression of anger turn into one of fear as he towered over her. Fareeha had stood as well, and Yeon could feel her gaze burning into him beneath the helmet. Slowly, he released the rest of the breath he had drawn in.  _ Calm down. She is not your enemy. She doesn’t deserve your anger. _ He removed his hands from the table and took a seat again. 

“I’m- sorry I lost control like that and frightened you, Hana. But-” He paused, listening to the voice inside.  _ No. No excuses. It’s your mistake, own up to it. _ “-no. No buts. I apologize.”

Hana sat quiet for a moment, then nodded. “It’s okay.” Fareeha returned to her seat as well, assured that the situation had been defused. Hana drew in another breath, looking her father straight in the eyes for the first time since they had met at the door. Her lips pressed together in a thin line before she spoke. “I’d still like to know about my mother.”

Yeon nodded. “This might be a long story, and I don’t doubt that you will have questions, so you might want to be prepared to sit here awhile.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha anime flashback time. next chapter will probably not be related to the main storyline though, just felt like doing something for new years. Unless I manage to write two chapters in four days, which probably wont happen, but hey
> 
> also: [ Genji](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/326108056377360387/792844872515715092/sketch-1608911450407.png)


	16. how to fall in love, demon fox style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anime backstory time lol

**Sixteen years ago**

“Thank you, sir, please come again.” 

Yeon thanked the elderly woman at the counter as he bagged his goods, knowing full well that he would not be returning. A shame, he thought. The woman and her husband, owners of this little convenience store, seemed rather pleasant, or about as pleasant as humans could be. The bell above the door rang as he exited the shop, pulling an energy bar out of the bag and ripping the wrapper off. Chewing, he made his way through the streets of urban Seoul, taking side alleys and doing his best to avoid main roads and crowds of people. 

He had come to the city after hearing rumors of Mythical presence, which had, as per the usual, turned out to be nothing but hearsay. Something told him, however, that he should stay in Seoul for a few days more, instead of returning to his hiding-hole in the mountains as he usually did. And stay he did, living among the humans he resented, eating their food, using their currency, utilizing the luxuries they had that he did not. Pretending to be a human, a lower creature, was possibly the most torturous thing he had done in centuries, but for reasons unknown to even him, he stayed. His fox’s instincts were sharp, and through much trial and error he had learned it was best to heed them. 

He picked up a certain familiar sound he had heard many times before- the sound of running feet and gasping breaths.  _ Strange. No one runs in this city. Not like that, at least.  _ As out-of-place as the noise was, Yeon opted to ignore it, and did so until a woman came barreling down the alley opposite the direction he was coming. Hot on her trail were three young men on a motorcycle. Gang members, if Yeon’s analysis was correct. The woman ran past him, narrowly avoiding a collision, leaving the fox with a few seconds to make a decision before the three men on the motorcycle hit him. 

The logical part of his brain told him to simply move out of the way and leave the woman to fend for herself. The affairs of humans were not his problem to solve, and he had no need for more inconveniences on this little outing. Logic, however, had not done him any good in the past few weeks, and Yeon, as usual, instead opted to listen to his instincts. 

Grumbling, he stood fast in the middle of the alley, ignoring the angry shouts of the men as the motorcycle approached. The vehicle slammed into him at full speed, crumpling like paper as the  _ Kumiho _ stood unmoving. Two of the men were lucky enough to bail before the impact, leaping off the bike a split second before it ran into Yeon, but the third, the driver, was caught up in the wreckage. Yeon was certain his cries of pain could be heard halfway across the city, but as far as he was concerned, it was not his problem. Or rather, it wouldn’t have been, if he had not stepped out into the alleyway to begin with.  _ Goddamn my instincts. _

The other two had recovered and began to advance on him, paying no heed to their companion trapped under the flaming wreckage. He easily sidestepped the first punch thrown at him, sending the unfortunate man flying into the wall. The other took a couple steps back before pulling a gun out of his waistband, aiming it at Yeon’s chest. 

“S- stay back!” 

His hands were trembling as they tensed over the trigger, barely managing to thumb the safety. Yeon sighed, taking a couple steps toward the man. A shot rang out, burying itself in his chest, and he flinched for a bit, pain lancing through him before his healing kicked in, his skin mending itself and spitting the bullet out, leaving him unaffected. Before he could counter, however, a dull  _ thud _ sounded from behind the man, and he dropped to the pavement, out cold. The woman who had been running from them before stood above the fallen man, holding a rock she had picked up off the side of the street. 

Seeing that the woman was safe, Yeon turned to the last man, who was still trapped underneath the motorcycle and had likely suffered multiple burns across his body. He had passed out from the pain, it seemed, which would make Yeon’s job easier, if only by a little. Closing his eyes, he breathed in, then out, extinguishing the remaining flames with his fox magic. Dragging the man out from underneath the wreckage, he lay him down next to his partners and turned to continue his walk down the alley, already plenty irritated by this intrusion. Fortunately, no one had seen them, or at least, none that he knew of. 

“I could have defended myself, you know.”

Yeon turned halfway around, looking the woman in the eyes. She was quite beautiful, if only by human standards, with mid-length raven black hair and sharp, piercing eyes that revealed she was not the damsel in distress Yeon had initially made her out to be. Maintaining his composure, he coolly raised an eyebrow. 

“Against three men? At least one of which with a gun?”

The woman scoffed. “I’m not helpless, you know. I don’t need macho men who think they’re all the shit trying to save me from a trio of ruffians.” 

Yeon released a bark of laughter. Five hundred years, and here he was, being compared to a lesser being, the lesser of the lesser beings no less. “Very well, then. I hope to see you around, girl.” Once more, he turned on his heel and walked away, footsteps echoing off the walls of the alley, until the woman spoke again.

“Wait.” 

What compelled him to wait was a mystery to him, yet he did. The woman continued.

“That thing you did with the motorcycle… you’re not human, are you?”

_ Goddamn it. _

* * *

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait.” Hana held up a finger. “You mean to say that you saved my mom from a  _ gang? _ ”

_ Aw, he does have a heart, _ Fareeha signed. Yeon sighed.

“No- well, yes and no. They weren’t a  _ gang _ , not really. Just a bunch of dumb hotheads trying to have some fun.”

“So, like you.”

Yeon pinched the bridge of his nose, doing his best not to set his surroundings on fire. “No. Nothing like me.”

_ Definitely like him. _ Fareeha’s shoulders shook with silent laughter.

* * *

The woman, he learned, was Jin-Ae Seo, daughter of the head priest at the nearby temple in the mountains. She had been making a trip into town to restock on supplies, and insisted Yeon accompany her as she went about her errands. As they roamed about, he told her who he was, both as a man and as a  _ Kumiho _ . Surprisingly, she didn’t laugh at him, or scoff at his tales that, to any other human, would be extremely outlandish. What was more surprising, however, was the fact that he felt comfortable around her, telling her all about his life that had remained a closely kept secret for centuries. Never in his five hundred years of existence could he remember telling another being, a  _ human _ no less, about himself. 

She told him about herself, as well. The temple was being set upon by thieves and modern-day bandits, three of which Yeon had dispatched earlier. She also insisted he return to the temple with her and meet her family, as none of them had ever talked to, or even seen, a  _ Kumiho _ in the flesh. Yeon’s logical mind couldn’t even be surprised when he accepted her invitation, the two of them making their way up the mountain in the fading daylight.

There was a surprising number of people inside the temple, mainly priests and other workers, although there were a few visitors finishing up their visits for the day. Jin-Ae led Yeon into the main building, then into a side room, inside of which sat a balding, middle-aged man in front of a small shrine. The pleasant smell of incense filled the room as the man turned to see his visitors.

“Jin. You’re back!” The man, presumably Jin-Ae’s father, wrapped her in a hug, which she returned. Seeing Yeon standing behind his daughter, he straightened. 

“And who is this?”

Jin-Ae told her father of the day’s events, with Yeon filling in any holes she missed. Her father seemed rather skeptical at times throughout the story, but remained silent until they finished. After a moment of contemplation, he looked Yeon in the eye, then bowed to the fox. 

“Ah. Welcome to our humble temple,  _ Kumiho _ . You have my thanks for protecting my daughter. If you want,” he continued, “you may stay for as long as you choose.”

* * *

“Why is it that you’d gotten more human interaction that one day than you had in all five hundred years of your life?” 

Yeon sighed for what felt like the fifth time in the past ten minutes. “I’m telling you, I’m compelled by strange forces. It wasn’t  _ my _ fault I decided to save your mother-to-be that day.”

Hana raised an eyebrow. Fareeha looked as if she were doing the same. 

“Okay, maybe it was my fault. All I’ll say is, listening to my instincts hadn’t done me wrong before.” Yeon stood, refilling his cup from the coffee kettle. “Now shut up and listen.”

* * *

  
  


Yeon had never stayed in one place as long as he stayed at the temple. He suspected it was not because of its location or what it had to offer, but rather its occupants, or one woman in particular. 

He found himself thinking about Jin-Ae fairly often, found himself longing for her presence. Sometimes he would follow her as she went for walks in the woods, always staying out of sight and undetected. Bandits came and went, often attempting to sneak into the temple and steal what goods they had, but Yeon’s defense was impenetrable, and the raids eventually ceased. Summer became fall, and Yeon stayed, although he really had no business staying there. Jin-Ae became a constant in his mind, although they hadn’t talked much since their initial meeting. He was becoming more and more convinced she had cast some sort of spell on him, as any smile she gave him at the start of the day stuck in the back of his mind until the evening. 

One day, he decided he had had enough of this. He pulled himself off the cot he had been sleeping in for the past month and walked down the hallway, knocking on the door of her father’s room.

“Oh, Yeon. Can I help you?”

Yeon narrowed his eyes. “Your family… do they practice witchcraft or sorcery?”

The old man’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Witchcraft? Sorcery? You must be mistaken, Yeon, we are just a humble family that has kept up this temple for generations. We have never indulged in-”

Yeon slammed a hand on the wooden doorframe. “Lies. You daughter- Jin-Ae - she has done something to me. She looks at me every- every morning and I can’t get her out of my head. She is always infesting my dreams and I see her face every time I close my eyes. I think about her too much. You say you are not sorcerers, but your daughter has changed me, Seo.”

The head priest’s eyes widened a bit, taking in the information Yeon had just told him. Then, to the fox’s surprise, he began to laugh. 

“Ha! Yeon-il Song, one would have thought you more seasoned in the ways of men given how long you have lived among us!” He clapped Yeon on the shoulder, smiling. “No, we have not enchanted you or hypnotized you in any which way. Well, I suppose the best way to explain your predicament is to say your  _ own _ self is at fault for this.”

“Then what is it? What am I feeling?” 

“My friend, what you feel right now is what I felt when I met my wife, Jin’s mother.” 

Yeon groaned.

“You, Yeon-il Song, last  _ Kumiho _ of the Southern Mountains, are in love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year i guess
> 
> update 1/19/21: this fic isn't dead im just suffering from serious lack of motivation and ideas of how to continue the story lol


End file.
